


Let's Get "Physical"

by DarkReyna16



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: (no angst for once!), College AU, F/M, Fluff, I have no self control apparently, I'm Sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-05-30
Updated: 2016-06-10
Packaged: 2018-07-11 03:31:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 21,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7026796
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkReyna16/pseuds/DarkReyna16
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's guaranteed to be a hell year for Aeris Crown--after the fallout between her parents and her older brother, Mr. Crown has cracked down hard, and Aeris must prove that she is serious about her college goals...or risk being forced to pay for her own education, and consequently dropping out.</p>
<p>It is with no small amount of trepidation that she enrolls in the "appropriate" courses, including an 8 AM Physics class, taught by a stern skeleton monster and his lazy TA...a TA who seems willing to help Aeris survive this semester in any way he can.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The New Schedule

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....
> 
> Don't look at me like that.
> 
> There isn't anything you can say that I haven't already told myself.
> 
> FIGHT ME.
> 
> ~Reyna

            “…Well, it looks like everything is settled. Though, I have to say, I am surprised by your chosen course load for this semester. I thought you had not chosen a major yet?”

            “That was last year,” Aeris said stiffly. “It’s time to buckle down and work towards my physics major. It would’ve been rocket science, but since the science program here doesn’t offer it…”

            Her academic advisor picked up on her sarcasm immediately. Lowering her glasses, the goat lady asked gently, “This is not your choice, is it, Aeris?”

            Aeris’ brow furrowed. Hell no this wasn’t her choice. Why would she put herself through such hell of her own volition? Just looking at her schedule for this semester made her sick to her stomach. But what could she do?

            “My parents are paying good money for my education. Therefore, I should make the best of it,” Aeris said mechanically, citing her father almost word for word. Mrs. Dreemurr—Toriel, she asked her students to call her—nodded in understanding.

            “I see. Well, if this is really the path you feel is best, Aeris, then I will accommodate you as best as I can.” Toriel adjusted her glasses, smiling slightly. “But you should know that we offer a substantial scholarship for students with exemplary grades. Your grades last semester were excellent—if you keep that up, you may find that you might not need your parents’ financial aid.”

            Aeris’ frown deepened. Of course her grades were excellent last semester—she was taking a lot of electives. She enjoyed them immensely, but the course work was hardly course work at all; naturally, her grades were perfect as long as she completed what little work there was to do. This semester, however, consisted mostly of core classes that were guaranteed to drive Aeris crazy within the first week. She would be surprised if she didn’t drown immediately after syllabus week.

            Still, she was never one to look a gift horse in the mouth. Toriel was giving her valuable information, and she was grateful for it. Now, if she didn’t die from an avalanche of coursework this semester, she might have to look into this whole scholarship business…

            “Thank you, Toriel. I’ll keep what you said in mind.”

            “Here—a list of scholarships you should keep in mind, should you choose to apply,” Toriel said, helpfully handing Aeris a pamphlet with all the necessary information. “Do not hesitate to come to me if there is anything I can help you with.”

            Aeris smiled. For a math professor, Toriel sure was easy to get along with.

            Outside her advisor’s office, Aeris allowed herself a weary sigh.

            She couldn’t believe she was going along with this. Her schedule now looked like the Semester from Hell: an 8 AM Physics class, Calculus, Chemistry, Algebra…did she mention her 8 AM Physics class? The only thing that would keep her sane all semester was her Piano classes, and that was only on Thursday afternoons. What was she thinking? She should’ve just dropped out instead of being bullied into such an impossible schedule. Goodbye, food, sleep, and social life, hello caffeine, library, and perpetual exhaustion…

            “There she is!”

            Aeris squeaked in surprise as an arm suddenly flung itself around her neck from behind, pulling her into an awkward bow. She sighed softly to herself before turning an aggrieved eye onto the culprit: a dark-skinned young woman with a buxom figure, an impish grin, and strange, violet eyes.

            “Hello to you, too, Reyna,” she greeted, gently disengaging herself from the overzealous woman beside her. Reyna let her go easily, grinning up at her.

            “Hey, hun. How was your summer?”

            “Fine,” Aeris said politely. Reyna seemed to pick up on her mood, however; she raised an eyebrow at Aeris.

            “Yeah? What’s the pout for, then?”

            “I am not pouting,” Aeris protested, embarrassed when she felt her lower lip jut out of its own accord. Reyna’s cheshire grin appeared at the sight.

            “Uh-huh. Parents being overbearing again?”

            When were they not? Aeris sighed.

            “I appreciate the concern, Reyna,” she assured her as they turned, seemingly automatically, to head towards the coffee shop on campus. “But you don’t have to look after me constantly, you know. You’re not my RA anymore.”

            What a memorable year it had been when it was true, however: Reyna was either the coolest or the scariest RA in Aeris’ freshman building, depending on what kind of resident you were. If you were smart about breaking the rules and not getting caught, then you got the cool RA Reyna. But if you were constantly loud, forgot your key often, and made her get out of her chair while she was on duty…then you got the other, more terrifying RA Reyna.

            Aeris was hardly what could be considered a troublemaker, so cool RA Reyna it was for her, though her roommates weren’t always as lucky.

            “No, but I _am_ your friend,” Reyna countered with an important nod, “so looking after you is even more important now. Seriously, what’s wrong?”

            As an answer, Aeris handed her schedule over to her friend. Reyna’s strange, violet eyes scanned the paper, her frown becoming more pronounced the further down she read. Finally, she turned a bewildered look on Aeris.

            “Why do you hate yourself this year?”

            Aeris snorted at that.

            “It’s not me. It’s my parents, namely, my dad. He thinks, since they’re paying for me to go to school here, that I should only take the classes that _they_ think are suitable.”

            “That’s convenient, considering they themselves don’t have to deal with the workload or the sleep deprivation.”

            “Tell me about it.”

            “So why not tell ‘em to go stuff it?”

            Despite herself, Aeris smiled. Reyna had such a simple view of how the world should work, it made Aeris envious.

            “It’s not that simple,” she bothered to explain anyway as the coffee shop came into view. “I can’t pay for my education by myself.”

            Reyna shrugged. “So get a job.”

            Aeris gave her a wry look.

            “A simple job won’t pay for tuition either. I need scholarships, too.”

            “Ah, right. I forgot you’re not an RA.”

            “Yes, I know, you get discounted tuition for your services. Rub it in, why don’t you?”

            Reyna grinned apologetically. “Sorry. Hey, you wanna apply? I’m cool with Res Life—I could probably get you an interview.” Her grin turned devious. “Hell, I could probably get you the job.”

            Aeris shook her head good-naturedly.

            “No, thanks. I don’t think I can handle being an RA on top of all the work I have to do this semester.”

            “True…” Reyna examined Aeris’ schedule once more before handing it back to Aeris, her frown returning. “Seriously, the hell is your dad smoking? Does he want to kill you?”

            Aeris sighed. The more she thought about it, the more convinced she became that there was no way she could do this. She opened the folder she was holding, thumbing through all the documents she’d had to get signed in order for this schedule to even be approved, since there were a couple prerequisites she was foregoing in order for this new major to work. Where was the scholarship pamphlet Toriel had given her? Maybe she should look into those now rather than later—something told her she was going to be dropping a lot of classes if her negativity turned out to be warranted—

            “Hey, watch it!”

            Reyna’s warning came too late—by the time Aeris looked up, the collision was already occurring. Aeris let out a shriek of surprise as she ran into something, stumbling back and toppling over, her long legs tangling and tripping her up. She fell hard onto her backside and groaned, wincing in pain. What in the world…?

            “Ouch,” said a quiet voice in front of her. Flushing red, Aeris looked up with a cringe.

            “I’m _so_ sorry,” she apologized, humiliated.

            The figure across from her grinned. Not that they could help it—they had no lips to cover their teeth.

            “No problem,” said the skeleton monster, and the deep voice told Aeris it was a ‘he’. She hadn’t wanted to assume; the sneakers, jeans, and dark blue hoodie they wore were unisex. As Aeris watched, he got up, briefly brushing himself off before offering a hand to her, a lazy grin in place. “S’always nice to bump into new people.”

            Though Reyna made an impatient noise, Aeris bit her lip to hide a smile, accepting the stranger’s hand. It was startling to find how much shorter he was than her, though Aeris was always tall. She blamed it on the presence the skeleton monster had; it seemed like he should be taller, somehow.

            “You’re not hurt, are you?” Aeris asked him, anxiously looking him over. “Did I mention that I’m sorry?”

            “You might’ve said somethin’ about an apology already,” the skeleton monster said, his grin growing by a margin.

            “If anyone should be apologizing, it’s you,” Reyna suddenly snapped, and Aeris turned a chagrined gaze on her. She had learned very early on that it was easy for Reyna to bristle when something threatened Aeris; she was handy to have around when creeps were hitting on Aeris at parties, but otherwise… “You were the one with your skull buried in that book. Watch where you’re going next time!”

            “Reyna,” Aeris said quietly, shooting her a reproving glance. Reyna scowled back, opening her mouth to protest some more, but a sudden chirping from somewhere in her pocket distracted her. Sucking her teeth, she tugged a cell phone from her pocket, glanced at the glowing screen, and swore.

            “I gotta go, hun, I’m late for my morning shift. See you later, ‘kay?” With a quick hug to Aeris and a warning glare to the skeleton monster, Reyna was off, running a little faster than should be possible, considering how short her legs were. Aeris personally blamed magic.

            “Nice friend you’ve got there,” said the skeleton monster; Aeris turned to find that he was watching Reyna retreat as well. Though he grinned, there was something unfriendly about the gesture, making Aeris shiver.

            “She’s not as bad as she seems,” Aeris prefaced, as was her habit when people met Reyna for the first time. What amazed her was the way the skeleton monster before her managed to give her the same doubting look everyone always gave her when she uttered that phrase, even without the required facial features. Smiling in apology, Aeris crouched, gathering up the books the skeleton monster must have dropped. “Anyway, I wasn’t watching where I was going, either, so I’m really sorry about running into you.”

            “S’okay. I wasn’t hurt.” The skeleton monster leaned over to help, moving quickly, but not quick enough—Aeris managed to pick up one of the heavier books, and her jaw dropped at the sight of it.

            “Quantum physics??” She questioned, giving the monster before her a surprised look. He grinned, looking a bit embarrassed.

            “Ah. You discovered my secret,” he seemed to tease her, taking the book and slipping it inside another, larger book he was holding. Aeris read the name: “A Thousand and One Puns to Drive Your Loved Ones Crazy!” She raised an eyebrow.

            “It’s a secret that you’re apparently brilliant?” She asked him, handing back the rest of his books. The skeleton monster grinned, the lights in his eye sockets gleaming.

            “Somethin’ like that.” He held out a hand. “Sans.”

            Aeris blinked.

            “Sans what?” She asked, uncomprehending. The skeleton monster snickered at her.

            “Gaster,” he answered. Aeris only stared at him.

            “Huh?”

            “My name,” he said helpfully after a moment.

            “Oh!” Aeris exclaimed, blushing as her eyes rounded in understanding. She hastened to shake his hand. “Oh, I’m so sorry, I…um, you have an…interesting name.”

            “It’s funnier on a computer,” Sans assured her. Apparently oblivious to the odd look she was giving him, he held up her folder and her fall semester schedule. “You dropped these.”

            “Oh, thank you,” she said, and they both straightened up again, this time with the correct possessions. As Aeris filed her schedule back into her folder, she felt Sans watching her.

            “8 AM Physics, huh?” He asked after a moment. Aeris cringed.

            “I’m afraid so,” she sighed. Her eyes flashed down to the joke book he held, now knowing what it concealed. “A subject that’s probably child’s play for you, I’m sure.”

            This made Sans grin. He had a nice smile, Aeris noticed…if not a rather lazy one.

            “I’ve been known to _kid around_ with simple physics from time to time,” he joked. Something about his expression intrigued Aeris; it was like he was expectant, waiting for a certain response from her.

            She raised an eyebrow.

            “That’s such a _juvenile_ joke,” she told him immediately, biting her lip to keep from smiling. “You can do better, can’t you? You have a thousand and one puns at your disposal, after all.”

            Sans seemed to pause, just staring at her.

            And then, impossibly, his grin grew even wider, the lights in his eye sockets shining.

            “What’s your name, human?” He asked. Aeris’ brow puckered.

            “That’s a little rude, isn’t it? You don’t hear me calling you ‘monster’ here, do you?”

            “That’s because I already introduced myself,” Sans pointed out. Aeris realized he had a point, and her lower lip jutted out.

            “Touche…I’m Aeris.”

            “Like a princess?”

            Aeris sighed. If she had a nickel for every time that question came up…

            “Wrong spelling,” she told him, looking wry.

            “My bad,” Sans said, still grinning. “And your last name?”

            Ugh.

            “…Crown,” Aeris admitted, blushing. Sans seemed to pick up on the obvious joke immediately, of course, if the tell-tale widening of his grin was any indication. Seriously, how did his skull not crack from the effort?

            “Aeris Crown. Your parents are funny.”

            Aeris’ expression deadpanned at that.

            “You may be the only one who thinks so.” She said. There was a bit too much darkness in her tone; Sans’ grin lessened by a margin, and he peered at her curiously, but Aeris checked her watch, noting she had stood here for longer than she should’ve, making conversation with a stranger. It was time to leave.

            “I should go…there are still a few things I have to take care of before classes start tomorrow,” she said, tugging on a strand of her hair as she thought of tomorrow. Oh the humanity…

            Sans’ grin reappeared full-force.

            “Sure. Sorry for keepin’ ya.”

            “Sorry for running into you,” Aeris apologized yet again, still feeling bad. Sans shrugged.

            “I’m fine,” he assured her. There was something knowing in his grin as he added, “The fun part about not havin’ skin is that I don’t bleed as easily as you flesh-wearers.”

            At Aeris’ peculiar look, he shrugged again. “You said I couldn’t call ya ‘human’. I decided to get creative.”

            A grudging smile broke through Aeris’ lips. She had known plenty of monsters in her time, but this one was an odd one, for sure. It wasn’t a bad thing.

            “Well, I’ll see you around, maybe,” she bade farewell to Sans, stepping around him. He obligingly stepped to the side, still grinning around his armful of books.

            “Yeah. See ya later, Princess.”

            Aeris whirled back around to object to the nickname, but he was already walking away, something self-assured in his steps as he headed in the opposite direction. Aeris watched him for a moment, a strange feeling overtaking her. She couldn’t put her finger on it…but she rather felt as if something significant had taken place in that silly, embarrassing conversation she had just had.

            Aeris shook her head. That was impossible. She had no way of knowing such a thing from such a simple conversation. She had clearly been spending too much time with Reyna—the spooky way she sensed these things was beginning to rub off on her or something.

            In fact, if Aeris ever saw that punny bonehead again, she herself would be very, very surprised.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Uggggggh, Aeris, why are you so fun to wriiiiiiiite.
> 
> =_=
> 
> I will finish Sparks Fly, damn it. I have half of the end written; just bear with me.
> 
> As for this fic with the shitty title that I kind of hate myself for...?
> 
> I dunno.
> 
> I have SOME ideas for it...but I don't think it'll be a very in-depth fic.
> 
> ...On the other hand, it may surprise me. ._.
> 
> We shall see. I can't promise regular updates for this one, but it may be updated a few more times before I update SF, simply because it's easier to write. (I'm sorry. .-.)
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ~Reyna


	2. Syllabus Week

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry; this chapter was too long for me to go in and manually fix the indentation, so it suddenly switches near the end and looks weird uuggggghhh.
> 
> Anyway, please ignore it, I'm sorry, I just don't have the patience to fix it.
> 
> Enjoy regardless! <3
> 
> ~Reyna

This morning was evil, and it was out to get her. That much Aeris was sure of.

            She groaned under her breath, trying to find and silence the ringing alarm on her phone from where she was buried under her comforter. It was much too early for her to be conscious, even if she was usually a morning person. This just seemed like an unholy hour to be getting up for class.

            Finally, her blind hand located the phone. She brought it into her blanket den, quickly swiping the screen to shut the alarm off. But even as she dropped said phone back onto her nightstand and rolled over, Aeris knew it was no use: she was awake, and now she had to face the consequences.

            Groaning more, she managed to drag herself out of bed, rubbing tiredly at her eyes. A shower…as soon as she showered, she’d be more awake. And then maybe she wouldn’t hate herself and her parents so much for having to be awake for class so early…maybe…

            If there was one thing Aeris was grateful for this year, it was the fact that her parents had agreed to pay for a private room for her. She never had to worry about a loud or obnoxious roommate, and she could come and go as she pleased without having to fear walking in on something she shouldn’t see…seriously, her freshman year living situation was kind of terrible thanks to her former roommate and her former roommate’s boyfriend. Aeris was fervently glad that those days were over…though the end of them came with the price of killing her already limited social life…

            Aeris sighed again before squaring her shoulders as she headed to the bathroom. No use whining now. She might as well try first, at least…maybe she would discover that she actually had a knack for science and math…and maybe her brother would announce that he had decided to run for president…

            Aeris snorted at the thought of Alex as a politician; with his long hair, pierced lip and tattoos, there was no way any older generation would vote him into office. It was fun to imagine it, but really, his rising rock star lifestyle suited him better, in Aeris’ opinion. Their parents were less than pleased, however, and Aeris suspected that her brother dropping out of college to go on tour with his band was part of the reason they had come down so hard on her. She didn’t blame Alex for their parents’ neurosis, but she did miss him; it had been a while since he called, so Aeris was taking his silence as a good sign that he was busy.

            She finished her shower and stepped out of the bathroom just in time to hear her phone buzz. Wrapping her towel securely around herself (though there was no one else around to witness her nudity), Aeris plopped down on her bed, wondering idly who was contacting her so early as she retrieved her phone. Alex’s name flashed across her screen, and a delighted smile lit up Aeris’ features.

            ‘ _Speak of the Devil,_ ’ she thought, opening the text.

            Her brother’s message was short, but sweet:

            ‘ _Hey, Aeri! Heard the ‘rents bullied you into a neuroscience major or whatever. That sucks, Sis. Wish I could be there to help you out with some booze, but all I can say is good luck!_ ’

            Aeris snorted, sending a quick reply as she pushed her wet and tangled hair out of her face. It was going to be impossible to deal with this morning, she already knew it.

            ‘ _You know I’m not old enough to drink yet, Alex, so the booze would be a moot point. But the sentiment is appreciated. :) How are things with you?_ ’

            He didn’t reply right away, so Aeris set about wrapping her hair in a towel to keep it from dripping everywhere as she chose what to wear for the day. Part of her was sorely tempted to just put her pajamas back on and go to class that way—a sort of informal protest to the early hour—but the rest of her that was too embarrassed to pull that stunt dismissed the idea, and she sighed as she reached for a pair of more appropriate capri pants and a pheasant top. It was still warm enough to dress light, so this much she could get away with wearing, even in the early morning.

            As Aeris was trying to decide how to attempt to tame her hair, her phone buzzed again with another message from Alex:

            ‘ _Things are great! Jerry’s a surprisingly good manager, though it’s hard to get people to meet with him at first. We’ll be on tour for a few more weeks, but I think I’ll be back in time for Family Weekend. Don’t want you suffering alone with our folks if I can help it._ ’

            ‘ _Oh, thank god. Now instead of fussing at me for 48 hours, Dad can yell at you about the fact that you’re throwing your life away on an unstable work lifestyle, warn you for the millionth time about the evils of rock star drugs, complain about all your tattoos…should be fun. :)_ ’

            ‘ _Totally._ _The sad thing is that that’ll probably be him being calm._ ’

            ‘ _I know. Anyway, I love you, Alex, but I gotta go. 8 AM Physics class._ ’

            ‘ _…Oh my god. You have to wake up THAT EARLY for a THINKING class? That’s just inhumane._ ’

            ‘ _Tell me about it. There’s actually a 0% chance that I won’t die._ ’

            ‘ _Eh…I dunno, Sis. You’re pretty stubborn when you put your mind to it. I feel like you could ace any class if you tried. And if you need motivation, just think of it as spiting our parents, since we both know you’re not gonna be a doctor or a pharmacist like they want. Oh, you should screw with them big time—make the Dean’s List, and then…wait for it…open up a flower shop._ ’

            Aeris laughed out loud. Even from miles and miles away, Alex still managed to cheer her up. Everyone should be so lucky to have such a big brother.

            ‘ _You know what? I might just do that. :P Talk to you later, Alex. Break a leg!_ ’

            ‘ _Love ya, Aeri!_ ’

            Well, that was definitely a better start to her morning; whether he knew it or not, Alex’s encouragements had invigorated Aeris. She slipped her phone into her pocket with a smile as she selected a notebook and an empty folder to take with her to class. Syllabus week or not, she wasn’t chancing it—she knew none of these science professors and only one of the math professors, so Aeris wasn’t going to put it past any of them to force her to take notes on the very first day. Still, this didn’t bother her. Notes were easy. It was the work that was the hard part.

            ‘ _Bring it on,_ ’ Aeris thought to herself, her smile growing. Alex was right about one thing—she _was_ stubborn, a trait that was double dosed from both her mother and her father. If she refused to let this semester consume her, then it wouldn’t. And though it was easy to say that now, with it being the beginning of the semester, Aeris was determined. Her parents wanted to force her into this? Fine. But she was going to do this her way.

            Despite Aeris’ determination, she managed to get herself lost on campus. She had never had to venture to the science building before, and it occurred to her too late that she had no idea where it was. After asking a couple sleepy students on the way to their own 8 AM classes, Aeris was pointed in the right direction…just in time to arrive five minutes late.

            ‘ _Bring it on,_ ’ she thought to herself ironically as she pulled the door leading to the correct classroom open. Immediately, all eyes shifted to her, making her flush red.

            “Um…is this Physics?” She decided to ask, just in case there was a last-minute change and she was in the wrong classroom…which would just be fantastic.

            “It is,” replied a clipped tone, and Aeris’ eyes were drawn to the figure standing behind the desk at the front of the class. He stood tall, over six feet, Aeris guessed, hands clasped behind his back, and a stern look on his face…which was amazing, because his face lacked flesh. Two cracks ran through his skull, one ending at one of his eye sockets and branching away to the back of his skull, the other stretching down to touch the top of his frowning mouth. A pair of glasses were taped in front of his eye sockets, where two glowing pinpricks of light could be seen, and he was dressed in a crisp white lab coat, a black suit visible underneath the gaps. He was very intimidating; for a moment, all Aeris could do was stare at him. He stared back, his frown becoming more pronounced.

            “Let it be known that I do not permit tardiness in my class,” he announced to the room at large, and Aeris felt her blush deepening. “Attendance is five percent of your grade, and that includes arriving _on time._ As you know, the university’s policy is that three unexcused absences from class equals either a drop in letter grade, or an automatic failing of the course, depending on the professor. I truly hope none of you are forced to find out which professor I am. Now—”

            The door creaked open a second time, and Aeris hastily moved out of the way, relieved that she wasn’t the only latecomer, but cringing for the next poor soul that would be lectured today. But when she glanced at who was entering the room, she felt her eyes round in surprise.

            A very sleepy-looking Sans strolled in, hands buried in the pockets of his hoodie, looking more like he was ready for bed than for class. A large canister was nestled under one of his arms, the contents sloshing noisily. He glanced over as the door closed behind him, sliding a lazy grin Aeris’ way. Abruptly, she realized that he knew he’d be seeing her today.

            “Sans,” spoke the professor, a note of irritation in his voice, “you’re _late._ ”

            Sans gave a shrug, as if this news did not concern him.

            “Sorry, Gaster,” he said, not sounding sorry at all, “I was up, but then I laid back down, and my bed made a really convincing argument about why I should stay for five more minutes. Y’know how it is.”

            A ripple of laughter went through the room, quelled almost instantly by the look the professor shot the class. He gestured impatiently for Aeris to take a seat, and she hurried to one in the nearly empty front row, eager to be out of the spotlight.

            “As I was saying,” the professor began again as Sans made his leisurely way towards the front desk. “I will not tolerate tardiness. Not even from my _own_ TA.”

            “My bad,” Sans apologized insincerely once again, setting up shop in the empty chair that sat beside the professor; he put his feet up on the desk, crossing his tarsals as he drank deeply from his canister. Aeris took note of the fuzzy pink slippers he was wearing today before the professor swatted them off the desk impatiently.

            “For heaven’s sake,” Aeris heard the professor mutter before he turned to address the class once more. Behind him, written on the board, Aeris could see a name written in chalk: Prof. W.D. Gaster. “I suppose introductions are in order…this is Sans, my son, and the TA for your class this semester…provided he can get himself together long enough to be effective.”

            “Don’t count on it,” Sans commented from behind his canister, and another smattering of laughter sounded throughout the room. Aeris narrowly avoided smiling by biting her lip. Professor Gaster sighed, but otherwise acted as if Sans hadn’t spoken.

            “This class is only for those of you willing to pursue a Bachelor’s degree in Science. Your major within this branch is your own to choose, but this is the first step towards taking your college education seriously. Anyone here who is not planning to graduate with a BS is, therefore, wasting their time, and should leave now.”

            Professor Gaster waited, as if he seriously expected people to get up and leave the classroom. The strange pinpricks of light in his eye sockets swept the room; Aeris rather felt that his gaze rested on her for a moment longer than anyone else. Her brow furrowed at this, jaw setting stubbornly. She had already committed to giving this her best shot—if he wanted her out, he was going to have to chase her out.

            When at last he seemed satisfied, Professor Gaster turned his attention to the syllabus, handing a stack of paper to Sans to pass out. Sans grumbled under his breath a little but got up, handing the whole stack to the first person he reached—Aeris.

            “Just pass it to the person closest to ya,” he told her with a grin. Aeris couldn’t help the frown she shot at him; no one was sitting behind or beside her; she had clearly been the only unwise student to choose a seat right in front of the scary professor. The person closest to her was a yellow lizard-looking monster a couple seats away, but even though Aeris was opening her mouth to explain this, Sans was already heading back to his seat, apparently convinced that he had done his job. Aeris glanced at Professor Gaster, and noticed he had his eye sockets closed and was breathing deeply, as if he was counting to ten. It didn’t seem like a bad idea, actually…

            Wondering silently why the professor had chosen such a lazy TA, son or not, Aeris got up from her chair, keeping a copy of the syllabus for herself before she carried the rest of the stack over to the bespectacled lizard monster sitting in her row, grimacing in apology.

            “Uh, th-thanks,” the lizard monster stuttered, adjusting her glasses nervously as she accepted the stack from Aeris, claimed a syllabus for herself, and passed the stack on to the person sitting behind her.

            And so it went, until everyone had a syllabus. As soon as Professor Gaster confirmed this, they began to go over it as a class.

            “My office hours are from ten to twelve on Tuesdays and Thursdays,” Professor Gaster announced, and Aeris pulled out a highlighter to circle the relevant information. “However, I may be busy with other responsibilities that require my attention. As such, I ask that you contact me twenty-four hours before my office hours to schedule a meeting with me. Otherwise…you will have to deal with Sans, instead.”

            Professor Gaster frowned at this, as if he found the idea detestable. His frown greatly contrasted the lazy grin his son wore, and again, Aeris had to prevent herself from smiling, this time by covering her mouth with a hand. Seriously, though, it didn’t seem like the good professor had much faith in his TA. Aeris wondered once more why Professor Gaster would choose Sans for such an important role if he was going to look like he regretted it so much. Temporary lapse in sanity, perhaps?

            Another perk to syllabus week—most professors allowed class to end early. While Aeris was worried that Professor Gaster would be an exception to the norm, he surprised her by dismissing the class as soon as they finished reading through the syllabus.

            “Keep in mind that class is usually an hour longer,” he made sure to remind them as the class scattered. “Also make sure that you have purchased the required textbook no later than Friday morning. Young lady,” he suddenly singled Aeris out, both in word and gesture, just as she was getting to the door, “a word, if you please.”

            Aeris froze, her wide eyes on the professor. Was this about her tardiness? Or had she inexplicably done something else to offend him?

            Feeling trepidation slide down her throat, Aeris reluctantly stepped up to the professor’s desk as the last of the class gained their freedom. She fidgeted uncomfortably as Professor Gaster slowly erased his name from the board before turning to address her. Sans sat still, appearing to stare into space, but Aeris rather thought she saw his gaze flicker occasionally to her from the corner of her eye.

            “You are Aeris Crown, correct?” Professor Gaster asked, his tone businesslike.

            “Yes?” Aeris replied, though it sounded more like a question than a confirmation. She felt rather than saw Sans grinning at her, but she ignored him.

            Professor Gaster shuffled through a section of his briefcase before withdrawing a piece of paper, positioning it on the desk for Aeris to read. It was a course withdrawal request form, with the professor’s signature already at the bottom.

            “There you are. No need to return on Wednesday,” he said, clasping his hands behind his back.

            Aeris felt the blood drain from her face. All this for being five minutes late to the first class??

            “…I don’t understand,” she admitted, a numb feeling of despair beginning to spread through her as she looked up at the professor. Professor Gaster gave her a look that made it quite plain that he would be raising an eyebrow at her if he had them.

            “It is my understanding that you were added to this class at the last minute, foregoing the prerequisite class necessary for you to take this class in the first place. Therefore, I’m afraid I cannot allow you to remain enrolled in this class. You simply will not be able to handle the coursework.” He tapped the form with a long, white phalange. “Be sure to turn this form in to your academic advisor before the end of the day.”

            Aeris stared down at the form some more. She could feel her face heating up, and willed herself to be calm; it wouldn’t do to cry on her first day of class. Still, she couldn’t believe she was just being dismissed in such a manner. And Professor Gaster was acting like he was doing her a favor! Was she supposed to be pleased?

            “With all due respect, sir,” Aeris began, suddenly finding her voice again as she raised her gaze and worked to keep the challenge out of her eyes, “this is just the first day. More than that, it’s a _syllabus_ day. I don’t think it’s fair for you to decide on your own whether or not I can handle the coursework.”

            Professor Gaster stared at her. Sans stared at her, too, but again, Aeris ignored him, her gaze focused only on the professor.

            Finally, to Aeris’ very great surprise, the professor smiled.

            “I understand that taking this course seems to mean a lot to you,” he conceded with an inclination of his head, “but I am not being mean, or quick to judge, or whatever else you may be thinking. It is just a simple fact: I have seen students who have tried to jump into this class at the last minute become recalcitrant within a week, due to the sheer complexity of the subject. Physics is not a course you can take to satisfy your necessary science credit, Miss Crown—”

            “Do you honestly think I’d pick _Physics_ of all science classes to complete a science credit?” Aeris asked of him, now insulted. “Again, Professor Gaster, with all due respect, I don’t appreciate the fact that you’re underestimating me on the first day. If this is because I was late, then I apologize, but it isn’t fair for you to assume that I’m not serious about this class.”

            Professor Gaster fell silent once more, appearing to inspect Aeris. She felt her jaw lock stubbornly as she stared back at him, acutely aware of the fact that, had it been her choice, she would not be standing here at all. But being told to her face on the _first day of class_ that she didn’t have what it took to deal with the class just rubbed her every single possible wrong way there was. She didn’t care whether or not Professor Gaster knew what he was talking about; the fact still remained that he didn’t know her from Eve, and he had no business judging her like this.

            The stare-down was interrupted by the clearing of a throat…or lack thereof.

            “Y’know, Gaster,” Sans began, resting his skull in his hand, one of his eye sockets closed as he grinned at his father, “you can give her the form, but that doesn’t guarantee she’s gonna fill it out and turn it in. ‘Sides, I coulda told ya she wasn’t goin’ anywhere—just look at that streak on her.”

            Aeris blinked, and then looked down at herself, wondering if there was an embarrassing streak somewhere on her, but she didn’t find anything.

            Professor Gaster was equally as perplexed, and twice as annoyed.

            “What are you talking about?” He demanded to know. Suddenly, Sans’ grin widened, and Aeris had a bad feeling that she knew what was coming next:

            “Ya don’t see it? It’s clear as day on her, that thick streak…” Sans paused dramatically, “…her _stubborn_ streak, I mean.”

            “Oh my _god,_ ” Aeris couldn’t help but utter, her distaste clear in her tone. That was a _truly_ dreadful joke, and she considered herself very unfortunate from having to listen to it. Her mouth reacted the wrong way, however, the corner of her lips curving upwards, like she wanted to smile. Ridiculous—she should not condone this type of behavior.

            Professor Gaster reacted poorly; he made a show of removing his glasses and closing his eye sockets, rubbing the bone around his nasal cavity. The frustrated gesture looked so natural that Aeris threatened to smile further, and she had to bite her lip to prevent it. Now was not the time.

            “In any case,” she spoke up to bring the subject at hand back into focus, “I don’t plan on withdrawing anytime soon, Professor Gaster. I’ve already committed myself to this course, and I’m not gonna quit on the very first day, let alone a syllabus day.”

            Professor Gaster opened his eye sockets, frowning at Aeris. She stared back, keeping her face impassive. The seconds ticked by, one by one…

            “…Very well,” the professor finally surrendered, much to Aeris’ relief. He appeared reluctant as he took back the withdrawal form, watching her closely as he added, “I will see you here on Wednesday morning, then. 8 AM sharp.”

            This time, Aeris allowed a bit of a challenging spark to enter her eyes.

            “I’ll be here at 7:45,” she promised him, and something that might’ve been a smile flitted across Professor Gaster’s skull…though it was so quick that Aeris began to wonder if she had just imagined it. Hoisting her bag higher up onto her shoulder, she gave a parting nod to the professor and strode out of the room, her head held high.

            Well…that was one hurdle down. And though she had about a million more to go, Aeris felt her determination returning full force. She now had yet another person to prove wrong in her pursuits: Professor Gaster seemed convinced already that she would immediately fail, and while he might have a point about her struggling with the coursework, Aeris would be damned if she let him convince her to give up so early. Though this was the path her parents chose, now, Aeris was hell-bent on seeing it through, just to prove that she could do it. Perhaps spite wasn’t the best reason to get a bachelor’s degree in science, admittedly, but even so…

            As she headed for the campus coffee shop, her need for a cup o’ joe strong, a voice suddenly called out to her:

            “Yo, Princess. Wait up.”

            Aeris paused in her stride, stifling a sigh.

            “My name is Aeris,” she felt the need to remind the skeleton approaching behind her, hands stuffed casually in the pockets of his hoodie. His grin widened as he reached her.

            “That’s what I said: Princess,” he teased, and Aeris rolled her eyes. Speaking of stubborn…

            “What can I do for you, Sans?” She asked politely, resuming her stride now that Sans had caught up.

            “Nothin’ right now. This is more about me helpin’ you,” Sans said, grinning up at Aeris. She raised an eyebrow.

            “Help with what?”

            “Physics. I meant to tell ya this before you strutted away like you were queen of the castle…” Sans grinned at the aggrieved look Aeris shot him for the royalty mention. “Anyway, there’s a study group on Monday nights for your Physics class. First meeting is next week.”

            A study group? Handy. Aeris didn’t like to admit it, but she would probably need all the help she could get.

            “Where are we meeting?”

            “At the library. Third floor.”

            “When?”

            “Five to seven. I may be sleepin’ when ya get there, but it’s cool: you can just poke me awake.”

            This was useful information to have, and Aeris was grateful. She just wasn’t sure how to express it other than in words.

            “Thank you, Sans. I’ll be there.” Aeris paused once again, smiling a little. “I appreciate you tracking me down to tell me this…but it could’ve waited until I saw you again on Wednesday, you know.”

            Sans gave a shrug.

            “I was headin’ this way, anyway.” Impossibly, he pulled out his large canister from his pocket, rattling it to demonstrate its hollowness. “Need a caffeine refill.”

            Aeris eyed the canister apprehensively.

            “Drinking so much coffee in one sitting is bad for the body, you know,” she told him, a fact her mother had practically etched into her skull at this point; Dr. Crown was still Dr. Crown, after all, even at home.

For some reason, Sans’ grin widened. Aeris began to wonder if he just naturally smiled wider at everything to differentiate from his default smile.

            “I appreciate your concern, Princess, but my body’s a bit different from human bodies. A large dose of caffeine won’t kill me.”

            Well, wasn’t he fortunate? Aeris gave the skeleton monster a glance-over, her curiosity about him growing. She had long since stopped wondering how monsters did some of the seemingly impossible things they did—growing up with them around meant that their strangeness faded to normalcy after a time—but it was her first time meeting a skeleton monster, and she had to admit she wondered how Sans could process the insane amount of caffeine he was apparently consuming.

            She glanced up, meeting his gaze, blinking at the expression he suddenly wore. He was still smiling—of course—but there was something more to his gaze, something she didn’t quite understand. Why was he looking at her like that?

            “You’re makin’ me blush, Princess,” he commented with a cheeky grin. Abruptly, Aeris realized she was being rude with her staring, and she turned red.

            “Ah…I’m sorry,” she apologized sheepishly, though she rather felt that Sans was just teasing her. After all, skeletons couldn’t blush…or, at least, she didn’t _think_ they could…

            “S’okay,” Sans assured her with a good-natured shrug. “I’m used to it by now—human women can’t seem to keep their eyes off me…” he winked, “y’know, since I’m such a _looker._ ”

            Oh no.

            Aeris tried to bite her lip, but too late—the snort was out, and though she slapped a hand over her mouth to keep her giggles from escaping, she couldn’t take back the initial sound of amusement. Clearly, coffee was needed _before_ her Physics classes from now on—her exhaustion was causing her tolerance for shitty jokes to rise, and that was just unacceptable…especially when Sans began to grin at her like that…

            “It won’t happen again,” Aeris warned Sans, and she spent a moment wondering if she was talking about her staring or the laughter at his jokes before she shook her head and dismissed the issue completely. “Anyway, don’t let me keep you. I’m sure you have a ton of work you need to get to.”

            “Yeah,” Sans agreed, the lights in his eye sockets shining, “a _skele_ —”

            “I’ll see you around,” Aeris talked over him hurriedly, feeling just a little bad for her rudeness. But honestly, Aeris didn’t think she could take another shitty joke without cracking up, and she was dead set on not encouraging Sans any further.

            And Sans seemed to know this; despite not being able to complete his joke, his grin was wider than ever.

            “Sure. I’ll be keepin’ an eye socket out for ya, Princess.”

            They nodded to each other, and then, at the same time, stepped forward in the direction of the coffee shop. When Aeris stopped, Sans stopped, too. They stared at each other.

            “…You followin’ me, Princess?” Sans asked after a moment. Aeris rolled her eyes at him.

            “No, Mr. Ego. I was already walking this way when you stopped me, remember?”

            “To the coffee shop?”

            The look Aeris gave Sans next was wry.

            “You’re not the only one in need of caffeine,” she informed him. Sans grinned.

            “Yeah? Well, since we’re headin’ in the same direction, why don’t we take a break together?”

            Aeris tilted her head to the side. There it was again: that odd look. She stared, trying to identify it…and abruptly, she realized what it was: caution.

            Her brow furrowed.

            “What’s wrong?” She asked without meaning to. The question seemed to take Sans by surprise—he blinked, his grin lessening by a margin.

            “…Wrong?” He asked, as if the word was foreign to him. “Whaddya mean? That’s a vague question—there’re a lot of things that’re wrong, in general. Yellow stops signs, for example—”

            “You look like you’re worried about something,” Aeris interrupted him, leaning down a little to get a better look at his expression, which changed again at her words, his grin falling completely as he regarded her warily. With the slip of his default grin, Aeris spied his hidden emotions a lot easier, and what she saw managed to confuse her.

            “…Did I say something to offend you?” She asked after a moment, blinking in surprise at the thought. “You look frustrated.”

            Sans’ grin made a sudden return. There was something rather forced about it, Aeris noted.

            “Do I?” He asked, as if the question was idle, of little importance. But his gaze was too intent on her face for Aeris to believe him. She smiled in an effort to put him at ease.

            “Despite that smile, yes,” she informed him. He continued to stare at her, and Aeris had to glance away, biting her lip as she tugged on a strand of her hair. “Um…did I? Offend you, I mean?”

            It was quiet for a moment. Aeris permitted herself another glance in Sans’ direction; he appeared to be struggling with something. Whatever sort of internal battle it was, it seemed to resolve itself rather quickly—Sans gave a sigh, and though his grin lessened, the small smile was more genuine…and more frustrated.

            “No. You didn’t do anything like that. You’re sharp, though.” Sans glanced away, his voice barely audible as he added, “…Inconveniently so.”

Aeris suspected that was a comment that was not meant for her ears, as if Sans had spoken it involuntarily. She smiled apologetically.

“I’m good at reading people,” Aeris offered by way of an explanation. Sans glanced back at her, a hint of dryness in his expression.

“So am I.” His gaze searched her face, looking for something. What, Aeris didn’t know…but the intensity of his stare made blood heat her face. “…Usually, anyway…”

That was a telling comment. Aeris tilted her head to the side, pursing her lips in speculation.

“Did I do something to confuse you?” She asked as she wracked her brain, wondering just what had happened to cause this.

Sans merely stared at her, the frustration in his gaze returning; the way his jaw worked suggested that he was chewing on words that he hadn’t made up his mind about speaking yet. Aeris stared back at him, her brow furrowing. Honestly, she didn’t know how to feel about Sans’ frustration with her—he didn’t know her, but it was clear that he felt like he should, just from one glance. Was he able to discern everyone’s true nature so easily? That couldn’t be possible, could it? After all, humans were complex creatures. It wasn’t _that_ simple to have them all pegged after a few conversations, was it?

“Why do you want to stay in Physics?” Sans suddenly asked. The question took Aeris by surprise, so her response was less than intelligent:

“Huh?”

“Why do you want to stay in Physics?” He repeated himself, his gaze searching her face once again. “You didn’t seem thrilled with the idea yesterday, and today, while we were going over the syllabus, you highlighted nearly half of it, as if every single detail would be vital to help you survive. You clearly feel like you don’t belong in such a class…so why stay?”

Had he been watching her as she poured over the syllabus, chewing on the end of her highlighter as she fought a rising sense of panic that told her that she was already in over her head? This made Aeris frown—he had seen a little more than she was comfortable with, but she didn’t know what to do about it. And what did he mean, “why”?

“Does it matter?” She asked.

“…” Sans blinked. Aeris watched, her surprise growing, as Sans seemed to absorb her question. Abruptly, blue invaded his skull, coloring his cheek bones. His expression of frustration warped into chagrin, and he glanced away from her, rubbing the back of his skull.

Aeris stared. Was he…embarrassed?

“…I guess not,” he admitted after a moment, the look he threw her definitely sheepish. “I guess…I’m just not used to…not understanding.”

…Huh.

“I suppose that can be frustrating,” Aeris admitted, her nod solemn. But when Sans dared to look back at her, she smiled. “But I don’t think you’re missing out on anything. My reason for staying is stubborn, at best…petty, at worst.”

Despite this disclaimer, the way Sans gazed at her suggested that he still wanted to know—very much—why she would choose to stay in a class she would normally have no business in. This made Aeris ponder whether or not she would be willing to tell a virtual stranger her troubles with her parents. It wasn’t a secret, exactly…but still, it wasn’t any of Sans’ business, either. In fact, his interest in this matter made her wonder why he was so interested. Was it just a matter of pride, frustration over the fact that he didn’t understand her right away? Or was it something else?

“…Maybe I’ll tell you about it, sometime,” Aeris hedged, biting her lip to keep from smiling when Sans frowned at her. Wasn’t he impatient? “For now, why don’t we take that break you mentioned? …Unless you were just dangling coffee in front of me to lure my secrets out of me?”

The strange blue returned to Sans’ skull. Aeris let her smile crack through. Bullseye.

“You make me sound like some kinda villain,” Sans grumbled, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he half-turned from her, darting glances to her face looking almost guilty. Aeris giggled behind her hand.

“Your scheming makes you an antihero, at best,” she teased him with a wide grin. Sans seemed to relax under her smile, his default grin returning with a vengeance.

“Yeah? Well, I guess antihero works—I don’t have a mustache to twist ‘round my finger when my evil plans inevitably fall through.”

“Maybe _shave_ it for when you do something really nefarious,” Aeris punned despite herself, and Sans’ grin grew wider.

“Well, we’ve wasted enough time chattering out here,” he announced after a moment, taking a few steps as he grinned at her over his shoulder. “I dunno about you, but I’m about dead on my feet right now.”

Aeris sighed and nodded. Definitely, coffee was a must, if she wanted to survive the rest of the day. She followed him to the door, and Sans surprised her by holding it open for her.

“Can I buy ya a cappuccino, Princess?” He offered further, and Aeris rolled her eyes.

“It’s Aeris. And are you still trying to use caffeine to get on my good side?”

Mischief was alight in Sans’ gaze.

“Depends—is it working?”

Aeris couldn’t help but laugh, shaking her head.

“I honestly don’t know why you’re so fascinated with my life decisions,” she told him.

Sans paused, staring at her, his smile shrinking. That searching look was back, and Aeris tried very hard not to be self-conscious.

“…Take it as a compliment,” he suggested after a moment. Since Aeris was too busy raising her eyebrows at him, Sans walked through the door first. But he still held it open behind him, a hand on the handle, grin on his face. “You comin’, Aeris?”

Oh. Look at that. He _could_ be trained.

A slow smile spreading across her face, Aeris entered the coffee shop after Sans.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Snorts*
> 
> I hate how cute they are, really.
> 
> (Not really.)
> 
> Sans not knowing how to handle Aeris when he first meets her will always be my favorite thing~
> 
> ~Reyna


	3. Study Group

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was fast. 
> 
> I forgot how easy Aeris and Sans are to write. XP
> 
> Enjoy! <3
> 
> ~Reyna

Aeris didn’t go to the first study group meeting. Nor the one after that.

She would’ve liked to say that it was because she didn’t need such meetings yet…but Aeris was nothing if not honest, even with herself. So she knew the real reason she wasn’t going to said meetings was because her pride wouldn’t allow her to.

And she was doing all right, she thought—she understood the concepts well enough when Professor Gaster explained them in class.

But when it came to applying them…

The first quiz that was handed back in the fourth week of class was the wake-up call for Aeris: thirty-six points. Out of a hundred. _Ouch._

The devastation must have been clear on her face, for Professor Gaster chose that exact moment to say:

“What you are looking at is a representation of the grades you would receive on a test at this point in time. If you are unsatisfied, you may schedule a meeting with me during my office hours after class to discuss your options. There is also a study group for this class that meets on Monday nights on the third floor of the library from five to seven, taught by Sans.”

Aeris previously thought that Sans was snoozing in his seat, but he opened an eye socket when his name was mentioned and grinned lazily at the class. Aeris pursed her lips to keep from snickering.

Professor Gaster’s gaze swept the room, landing, for a second, on Aeris.

“I will be frank with you: if you scored under forty points, chances are you do not belong in this class. Unless you are prepared to expend an extraordinary amount of effort to catch up…now would be the time to submit your drop forms to your academic advisors. See me for signed forms.”

‘ _Don’t glare at him,_ ’ Aeris reminded herself as she stared back at Professor Gaster until he looked away. She didn’t miss that he seemed to be speaking directly to her, even though she couldn’t have been the only one who failed, if the grumbles from her classmates were any indication. His blatancy only made her more obstinate, however: didn’t she say she wasn’t going to give up that easily? This first score was discouraging, yes, but she could fix it. She _would_ fix it, damn it. W.D. Gaster wasn’t going to chase her out that easily.

…Of course, she could think that, but…

The thirty-six at the top of the page was like an ugly scar upon the quiz paper. It drew Aeris’ eyes even as she tried to figure out where she went wrong on the quiz. She was so preoccupied that it was a moment before she realized she was no longer walking across campus on her own.

“Hey,” Sans greeted, and Aeris jumped a little, looking down at him with wide eyes. “Sucks about your quiz score.”

Aeris hastily stowed the shameful quiz out of sight.

“I suppose you know everyone’s grades, being the TA, hmm?” She guessed with a grimace.

“Yeah. That, and I graded everyone’s quiz myself,” Sans said. Aeris felt her brow furrow at this.

“Professor Gaster doesn’t do his own grading?”

“He does. For the higher classes.” Sans’ grin widened. “I get the little fish.”

Aeris sighed heavily. She noticed Sans’ smile lessen from the corner of her eye.

“Hey. Cheer up,” he said, as if the words themselves would magically make her happy.

Aeris smiled ruefully down at him.

“Can I ask you to be honest with me for a moment?”

Something flashed in Sans’ gaze, too quick for Aeris to catch it. She tilted her head nonetheless, inspecting him as his grin immediately grew wider.

“Sure, Princess. Depends on what you wanna know, though…”

“I just want your opinion,” she assured him, and Sans’ shoulders slumped like he was relieved. Curious—what was he afraid she was going to ask him?

Pushing the matter to the back of her mind for now, Aeris withdrew her quiz paper again, handing it to him. “D’you think this is fixable? Or…am I wasting my time here?”

She waited anxiously as Sans’ gaze roamed over her quiz once more. Stubborn though Aeris was—very much so—she still had enough sense to know when her stubbornness might be hindering more than assisting. Professor Gaster had already made his opinion clear about whether or not she belonged in his class…but Aeris wanted the opinion of a peer who could see things from her point of view, not a professor who was used to being right all the time.

After a tense couple of minutes, Sans looked up, those strange pinpricks of light in his eye sockets focusing on Aeris. She held her breath, on tenterhooks, waiting.

“At the rate you’re goin’?” Sans handed the quiz back to her, his expression sobering. “You’re gonna have a bad time, Princess.”

Aeris sighed, accepting the quiz once again. She made herself stare her failure in the face, disappointment coursing through her. It was true that she never wanted to take this class in the first place…but even so…

“But…”

Aeris’ eyes flashed back to Sans, widening in surprise.

“There’s a ‘but’ involved?” She sputtered before she realized what she was saying. Once she processed—and once Sans’ grin got tellingly wide—she blushed. “Uh, I mean—”

 “No no, it’s fine. We’re both adults. We can power through this.” Aeris watched, suspicious, as Sans made a show of clearing his non-existent throat. “As I was saying: with a bit of elbow grease—and when I say ‘bit’, I mean ‘a lot’—it won’t be long…”

Sans’ grin suddenly evolved into shit-eating, and Aeris braced herself.

“…Before you’re not far _behind_ the rest of the class.”

“Oh my god,” she muttered, staring at him in disbelief. “Do you even realize how incredibly cheesy you are?”

“Aw c’mon,” Sans teased, still grinning wide, “you know you’re _fondue_ my jokes. Admit it.”

“Never,” Aeris vowed, once again biting her lip to keep from smiling. Damn punny bonehead. “Now will you focus?” She waved her quiz in his face. “How do I fix this?”

“Hmm,” Sans hummed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. “Well, first, I’d start studyin’ a bit more than ya are. How many hours a night d’ya average?”

“Before or after I start tearing my hair out?”

Sans chuckled.

“Ya might wanna add another hour to that,” he suggested with a slight shrug. “And come to the study group. I can help ya out with whatever you’re strugglin’ with better than you can deal with it yourself.”

“Even though you sleep through class?” Aeris pointed out with a raised eyebrow. Sans’ grin widened.

“Have a little faith, Princess. I know what I’m doing.”

“Hmm,” Aeris hummed dubiously, putting away her quiz one final time and missing Sans’ widening grin. “Well, okay. Tonight from five to seven, right?”

“That’s it.” Sans gave a nod, taking a step back. “See ya then, Princess.”

Aeris rolled her eyes at the nickname, but didn’t bother to correct him as he turned and walked away. It had already stuck; what was the point in fussing about it?

She frowned to herself as she headed back to her dorm for the time being, her pride protesting, though feebly—this recent reality check of a failing quiz score had been the wake-up she required to get herself into gear. She couldn’t bleat about how serious she was about this class and then do nothing to improve her performance in good conscience. Her other classes were equally as trying, but she was expending the effort to succeed, wasn’t she? Her Physics class could be no different. Even if it was at 8 AM in the morning.

 

* * *

 

“…and then we played ‘Rat-tat Attack’, and the crowd went _nuts._ I kinda wish you could’ve been there, Aeri. You always said that one was your favorite.”

“It’s still my favorite,” Aeris assured her brother, smiling as she trekked across campus, the library looming in the horizon. It shouldn’t look so foreboding, but somehow, Aeris was intimidated. Shaking her head at herself, she added, “Anyway, I’m glad things are going well, Alex. And I’m sorry to hang up after you just called, but I have a study group to get to.”

“Study group?” Aeris could tell that Alex was shivering in horror just from his tone of voice. “God. I really admire you for putting up with our parents’ crap and everything, but damn.” He paused. “…I guess I didn’t really help when I just ran off on my own to be a rock star, huh?”

The guilt in his voice made Aeris’ heart hurt, and she rushed to reassure him.

“Alex, don’t be sorry for following your dreams. Do you know how proud I am of you right now? You knew what you wanted to do, and you didn’t let anyone stop you, not even Mom and Dad. Don’t feel bad about doing what you love. I would’ve been more upset if you _had_ stayed around and squandered your talent.”

“Yeah, but what about you?”

“My dream is to see you succeed, Big Brother,” Aeris said affectionately, making Alex laugh. “And I’ll figure it out. Our parents won’t be able to push me around forever, you know.”

“Damn straight. Call me if you ever need an impromptu kidnapping, though, okay?”

“Ha ha! Is it still kidnapping if the kidnappee goes with the kidnapper willingly?”

“Huh…probably not. You tell me, though: you’re the college girl.”

Aeris snorted. “Speaking of college, that study group I mentioned is about to start. I gotta go.”

“All right, all right. Talk to you soon, Aeri, okay?”

“Sure. Love you, Alex.”

“Love you, too!”

Aeris hung up, grinning as she made her way into the library. She was so glad the hair-pulling and name-calling phase with her brother was long over with, because he was the sweetest brother she could ever ask for. She blamed her parents for that: when they cracked down, Alex and her banded together, finding strength in solidarity. If anything, it was growing up in the same repressive house that bonded Aeris and Alex together so tightly. Aeris wasn’t sure either of them would have survived long without the other.

The library was exactly what Aeris expected: quiet. Shelves upon shelves upon shelves of books lined the place, a computer lab nestled in the right corner with hectic-looking students tapping away at the keys. The student on duty behind the library desk was on their phone playing Angry Birds; they didn’t glance up as Aeris passed by. She barely spent any time here her first year—there was no need—but she figured the stairs up to the third floor had to be somewhere nearby. After a glance or two around, she found them at the back of the library on the left. Hoisting her physics book higher into her free arm, Aeris climbed the stairs.

The third floor was nearly dead silent; clearly only the serious students studied up here. There was quiet muttering from a table nearby; a blue fish lady was staring down at some sort of math worksheet, and unless Aeris was very much mistaken, she was muttering the word “fuck” to herself very quietly. Aeris didn’t laugh; she understood the sentiment, and gave the fish lady a passing nod that she hoped was encouraging.

Aeris found Sans at a table all the way at the back of the room. He was sleeping. Of course. Aeris quietly sat down a seat away from him, glancing down at the material he had spread out in front of him. She didn’t understand a word of it—it didn’t even look like the stuff they were working on in class. To keep her head from spinning, her mind already half-made up to escape while she could, Aeris stared at Sans instead. He was pillowing his head with a book instead of his arms, breathing evenly with his eye sockets closed. This fascinated Aeris—how was it that he managed to close his eye sockets? And his mouth was really perpetually stretched into that smile, wasn’t it? If he could close his eye sockets, why couldn’t he close his mouth?

Aeris was seized with the strange desire to poke him. He _had_ told her it was all right to do so, if he was sleeping when she came up here. Still, she felt almost furtive as she cautiously reached forward, index finger outstretched. She paused just before jabbing his cheekbone, staring down at him. He looked so peaceful…and from the way he chugged his coffee every morning she saw him, Aeris got the feeling that he didn’t get much sleep at night…she felt bad for disturbing him…

Just as she withdrew her finger, Sans’ grin suddenly widened.

“Couldn’t bring yourself to touch me, huh?” He asked. The unexpected sound of his voice made Aeris jump, and she stared at him incredulously.

“Were you pretending to be asleep this whole time?” She accused him, equal parts annoyed and embarrassed. Sans opened his eye sockets, somehow looking mischievous.

“Not the whole time. Your staring woke me up.”

Aeris flushed and sighed in defeat.

“I was trying to decide whether or not to wake you,” she admitted. Sans raised his head, staring at her with an inscrutable expression.

“I said that you could,” he reminded her.

“I know,” Aeris replied with an apologetic smile. “I just…didn’t want to.”

Sans propped his skull up in his hand, his grin becoming sly.

“So you like watchin’ people sleep?” He snickered at the way Aeris’ blush deepened. “You’re some kinda freak, aintcha?”

“I didn’t want to wake you because I figured you could use the sleep,” Aeris hastened to correct him before he could run away with this absurd impression of her. “I kind of feel like you drink so much coffee and doze off in class because you spend the night hours _not_ sleeping.”

Sans’ grin dropped. He stared at her, the wary look making a fierce comeback.

“…How do you do that?” He rumbled, glancing away from her after a moment.

Aeris laughed softly. “I pay attention, Sans.”

The look he gave her next was strange—like he doubted that was all that was going on here. She raised an inquisitive eyebrow, but after a moment, Sans merely shook his head.

“So. Physics,” he began, blatantly changing the subject. With another apologetic smile, Aeris pulled her book towards her, opening it to the appropriate chapter.

“Physics,” she agreed. And so began the grueling walkthrough.

About a half hour later, Aeris’ head began to throb. She stifled a sigh, her fingertips pressing into her scalp as she watched Sans solve a complicated problem that was apparently supposed to be easy at this level. God, this was a mistake. Was her pride really worth all this?

“…Princess? Hello? Did I lose ya again?”

Aeris let herself sigh this time.

“No. I’m just silently wondering whether it wouldn’t be easier just to blow my head off.”

Sans chuckled. The sound was dark.

“Don’t go doin’ that,” he chided, bumping her with his shoulder. The casual contact surprised Aeris. “Look, I’ll slow it down, and we can go over it bit by bit, ‘kay?”

“Sorry, but…can we take a quick break?” Aeris requested, slumping over the table, her hands buried in her hair. “I just…I need a second.”

Sans chuckled again. “Guess I’m not very good at this tutorin’ thing, huh?”

“You’re amazing,” Aeris replied, rubbing her eyes tiredly. “Seriously, thank you for being so patient. I guess…I’m just frustrated. Just when I feel like I’m getting it, the rules suddenly change, and I’m left in the dust with my head spinning.”

“It can’t really be helped, though, Princess,” Sans said, his voice pitched low. “You jumped into this course without the prerequisite. Naturally, you’re gonna need a bit more help than everyone else.”

Aeris groaned.

“I see that,” she grumbled, peeking through gaps in her fingers to stare at the empty table. “I’m the only one here tonight, aren’t I? No one else seems to be struggling as much as me.”

“Actually, there’s usually someone else here,” Sans admitted, “but I dunno where she is tonight—”

Just as he was finishing his sentence, someone else shuffled into sight—a yellow dinosaur-like monster with round glasses and buck teeth. She paused, taking a double-take at the table where the blue fish lady sat, but when said fish lady glanced up and met her gaze, the dinosaur monster jumped, squeaked, and shuffled away, heat flooding her face.

Aeris raised her eyebrows, but chose not to comment as her classmate reached their table. She paused, and Aeris sat up, feeling self-conscious.

“O-oh,” muttered the dinosaur monster, glancing between Sans and Aeris nervously. “Uh, I-I thought—”

“It’s still study group, Alphys, don’t worry,” Sans said, grinning a lazy grin and gesturing for her to take a seat. She did so, looking jittery, her eyes skittering to Aeris and away again so fast that Aeris felt it might be a nervous tick. Working to make her smile comforting, Aeris held out her hand.

“Hi, I’m Aeris. I sort of sit next to you in Physics class,” she introduced herself, her smile becoming wry. Alphys looked stunned, as if she could not believe that Aeris was talking to her.

“Oh…n-nice to meet you,” she mumbled, shaking Aeris’ hand once before she hastily let go. Her scales were sweaty, Aeris couldn’t help but notice, but she ignored it and took up her pencil once again. Now that someone else was here to learn, break time was over. She tried not to be too disappointed by this.

“We were just reviewing problems from the quiz,” Sans filled Alphys in as she retrieved her book and notebook from the bag slung over her body. “Anything ya need help on?”

“Uh, a few things,” Alphys admitted, withdrawing her quiz from the confines of her notebook. Aeris tried not to look, but she couldn’t help seeing the red number at the top of the page: Seventy-three. Jealousy flared, but Aeris snuffed it out. She had earned her grade, and so had Alphys. That’s all there was to it.

“Mm…okay, yeah, I remember where you went wrong here,” Sans said, giving Alphys’ quiz a quick glance. “Ya had the right answers for a couple of ‘em, but then you second-guessed yourself. Easy to fix—d’ya mind if we focus on Alphys for a second, Princess?”

“Not at all.” Aeris waved a tired hand, indicating that they should carry on.

Other than her evident problem with nerves, Alphys clearly knew what she was doing: she chatted with Sans easily, relaxing a little more as they sank into an element both of them seemed comfortable with. And Sans…Aeris had never seen him this animated before. As their language got progressively more and more confusing, Aeris contented herself with watching Sans, the way his grin became genuine as he explained a problem Alphys posed, his expression lighting up when she understood a second later and finished his sentence with the correct answer. Their talk grew excited, flying over Aeris’ head as Alphys dove with Sans into material much more complicated than they were supposed to be studying. Sans used his hands a lot as he talked, looking way more energetic than should be warranted for a study group. Watching him like this, Aeris couldn’t _not_ notice how in love he was with the subject of physics itself. It was so completely obvious that it had her smiling a little; like her brother with his music, it pleased Aeris to see others care so much about something that they tend to forget the world around them as a result.

In the middle of some debate he and Alphys were having about someone named Schrodinger, Sans glanced over, as if to enlist Aeris to his side of the argument—something about a non-existent cat? Once he met Aeris’ eyes however, Sans paused, his voice abruptly tailing away. As Aeris watched, pressing her lips together, blue filled Sans’ skull, and he hastily glanced away from her.

“…Uh…we, er…kind of got off-track, here…” he admitted sheepishly.

“Oh,” Alphys squeaked, flushing as well and giving Aeris an edgy glance. “Um, s-sorry about that—”

“Don’t worry about it,” Aeris assured them with a smile. “It was fun watching you two…even if I have no idea what was going on.”

“In any case,” Sans grumbled, looking uncomfortable, “we should get back on topic. Sorry ‘bout that, Princess. Won’t happen again.”

“It really is fine,” Aeris allowed, smiling a little as she decided to tease him. “Or are you just embarrassed that I saw what a huge nerd you are?”

Sans’ blush grew. Bullseye.

 “We’re all nerdy about something,” he said gruffly. “My thing just happens to be physics. I’m sure you have a thing, too.”

Aeris thought of her piano lessons and smiled.

“Indeed I do.”

“Yeah?” Sans asked, the question sounding like it should be casual…but the way his gaze roamed her face betrayed his interest. Aeris pressed her fingertips to her lips to discourage herself from smiling.

“But we should really be studying,” she reminded him. It seemed to take an effort for Sans to freeze his grin in place, but Aeris still saw that quick flash of disappointment. She leaned over her textbook, hiding her smile. Were they really so vital, these random bits of information Sans tried ferreting out of her on the occasions they talked one-on-one? Or was he just working to even some score Aeris couldn’t see?

Whatever his reasons, the way he seemed so interested in her made Aeris wonder if there wasn’t something more going on there…no, that was impossible. She was being silly. They had only known each other a month, and the times they were alone together were sparse. Sans hardly knew her. Of course he wasn’t interested in her _that_ way. It must just be that insatiable curiosity of his that had him questioning her at every turn. Yes, that certainly made more sense than the other option. With a snort at her ridiculousness, Aeris pushed the matter out of her mind. She needed the room, anyway, if she was going to attempt to bully more theorems into her brain.

Another hour later, Aeris was mentally exhausted. When Sans called time, she sighed in relief and slumped over, tempted to sleep right here at the table; it was comfier than she would’ve originally thought…or maybe that was just the fatigue talking. Beside her, Sans chuckled.

“That bad?”

“No. Yeah,” Aeris sighed, her eyes closed as she pillowed her chin on her crossed arms. “My brain feels like I sent it on a rickety roller coaster ride.”

“Ooh. Yeah, those aren’t fun. ‘Specially the wooden ones. I’m surprised they don’t _splinter_ into pieces from the effort of runnin’.”

“Mmm,” Aeris hummed, settling into the table. There was another laugh, and something moved closer to her.

“Ya can’t sleep here, Princess.”

She opened an eye, blinking at Sans’ proximity at first; he was rather close to her. A second later, she pouted at him.

“You sleep here,” she pointed out. Sans’ grin widened.

“Yeah, but I don’t have muscles that’ll be sore in the mornin’ if you sleep here.”

He had a point. Damn it.

With a sigh, Aeris made herself stand up and gather her belongings. Alphys was hovering nearby, staring toward the table where the blue fish lady sat again. After a moment, there was a loud shout of frustration, causing the few people studying on the third floor to jump and glance around in alarm. The fish lady jumped up, crammed her studying material into a backpack, and stomped to the stairwell in a towering temper. After she was gone, Alphys lowered her head, staring at the floor. What little Aeris could see of her face was completely red.

Aeris bit her lip to keep from smiling. A crush? That was cute, though Alphys seemed like she was too shy to say anything. Too bad.

“Whaddya think?” Sans asked, rounding the table to stand beside Aeris. “Good enough to come back for another session?”

Aeris’ smile turned into a grimace.

“I think I’ll have to. I’m a little less lost now…but I still have a long way to go.”

“This branch of science can get rather… _extensive,_ ” Sans punned. Aeris gave him an appraising look.

“That was a stretch.”

“Nope—this is.” Sans made a show of reaching his arms over his head and tensing. Aeris heard several of his joints pop at once, and she couldn’t help the snort that escaped her.

“You punny bonehead,” she said, the nickname she called him in her head slipping out by accident. Realizing her mistake too late, she covered her mouth with a hand, feeling herself blush. It only got worse at the way Sans glanced up at her, the lights in his eye sockets shining.

“…Ya gave me a nickname.” His tone was indecently gloating.

Aeris tried to scowl. It didn’t work very well.

“Only because you gave me one first,” she shot back, and then cringed. What was this, elementary school? If so, then she was rubber and he was glue…

She looked down in time to see Sans shrug.

“That’s fair, I guess. Not like neither of our nicknames are inaccurate, right?”

Aeris frowned at this. “I’m not a princess.”

“No? Then explain that effortless grace you’re always walkin’ around with,” Sans challenged.

Aeris snorted again. ‘Effortless grace’? Who the hell was he talking about? It couldn’t be her; being able to walk from Point A to Point B without tripping or something did not a swan make.

“You’re ridiculous,” she wasted no time in telling him. This did not appear to bother him at all; if anything, he only grinned wider.

“…Er…”

Aeris looked up to find Alphys shuffling her feet, giving the two of them odd looks.

“I’m, uh, gonna go,” she announced, blushing for some reason. Aeris frowned, realizing that she and Sans were being rude in ignoring Alphys, but as she opened her mouth to apologize—“N-nobody likes a third wheel, right?”

Aeris stared, shocked into silence.

Third wheel…?

“Uh, d-don’t worry, I don’t mind!” Alphys rushed to assure them after a sudden silence fell. “I-I think you two are really cute, actually!”

Oh. Oh dear.

“Oh,” Aeris huffed in surprise, the sudden misunderstanding robbing her temporarily of words. It wasn’t like she didn’t want to deny it—that was _not_ what was going on here, and how Alphys arrived at this conclusion, Aeris had no idea—but there was the problem of Sans standing right beside her. Would he be offended by her instant denial?

As Aeris grappled with the issue, searching for diplomacy, Sans took the matter out of her hands.

“Alphys,” he addressed the dinosaur monster, all traces of humor vanishing from his tone, “you’re misunderstanding. Aeris and I aren’t a couple.”

Aeris glanced down at him. The lights in his eye sockets were missing, and he looked so skeletal without them that Aeris felt herself shiver involuntarily. Alphys, for her part, went completely red.

“Oh. OhmygodI’msosorryI’llleavenow,” she forced out in a rush. Aeris took a step forward, a hand raised, a protest on her lips, but Alphys was already dashing away. Her tail whipped out of sight of the closing stairwell door, and she was gone. Aeris lowered her hand slowly, her teeth moving to worry her lip.

“Oh dear,” she sighed. Misunderstanding or not, she hated seeing Alphys so mortified. It was such a shame—from what Aeris could tell, Alphys was very sweet, if not cripplingly shy at times.

“Don’t sweat it,” Sans said from behind her. Aeris turned to glance at him, relieved to see the pinpricks of light in his eyes again; his serious look was a little too scary for her. “She’s just like that: awkward…but in an en _dear_ ing way.”

Aeris smiled weakly at the pun.

“Still…” She glanced at the stairwell door before returning her eyes to Sans. He was wearing that guarded expression again. Biting her lip, Aeris reached up to tug on a strand of her hair—a nervous tick she’d had since childhood. Well, this was terribly awkward… “Um…d’you think…I mean…”

Aeris frowned. ‘ _Spit it out already,_ ’ she told herself sternly. She was an adult, for god’s sake. She could speak her mind; it wasn’t like she could _actually_ die of embarrassment…

“Well…don’t you think it was an honest mistake?” She finally asked, after Sans was nice enough to patiently wait for her to finish. She noticed distinctly when his grin became forced.

“…Are you accusin’ me of flirtin’, Princess?” Sans asked after a moment.

“No,” Aeris assured him quickly, flushing. “It’s just…well, maybe our banter could, uh, easily be misleading…?”

“But that’s all it is. Banter.” said Sans, his grin widening a bit too much.

Aeris searched his expression, her lips pursing.

“I know that,” she assured him, tilting her head to the side. “Who are you trying to convince?”

Sans stared at her. After a second, he seemed to decide to ignore her question.

“So, I know you’ll hate to hear this, but if you wanna get good at physics, you’re gonna have to study for at least another half hour,” he announced. Aeris sighed heavily, and he chuckled. “I know, I know. Just try, okay? That’s all anybody could ever ask of ya.”

“I’m gonna write my suicide note first, pointing the finger at you for my brain hemorrhage,” Aeris said bitterly. Sans’ grin widened.

“Y’know what they say about finger pointers.”

“Touche.” Aeris sighed, gathering her things together. No point dawdling, she supposed. At least she’d be a bit more comfortable in her own dorm.

“All right, I’m off to be an intelligent masochist. Thanks for your help, Sans.”

“See ya Wednesday.”

Aeris was halfway in the stairwell when Sans’ voice called after her.

“Aeris?”

She turned back to look at him, the use of her first name making her curious.

“…Yes?” She prompted when he didn’t say anything at first.

Sans still said nothing. He just stared at her.

Aeris raised her eyebrows, hoping that would distract him from her heating cheeks. She wished he’d say something…his stare was making her uncomfortable…

After a moment, Sans blinked.

And then he shrugged.

“…I was gonna say something, but then I forgot,” he said carelessly.

Aeris stared at him.

‘ _Liar._ ’

The word was on the tip of her tongue…but at the last second, she changed her mind, gave a shrug of her own, and left.

It was impossible to call him out on lying when Aeris herself had no idea what he meant to say.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OH MY GOD STOP BEING SO CUTE.
> 
> Half their banter writes itself, I swear to god. Ugh.
> 
> Hope you enjoyed!
> 
> ~Reyna


	4. Extracurricular Activities

It was blessed relief, reaching the weekend: Aeris was certain that if she had to memorize any more equations this week, her brain was going to explode in overworked protest. As Saturday dawned, she meant to sleep in, wanting to make up for lost rest thanks to Professor Gaster’s bloody 8 AM class…but when the sun peeked through her curtains, as if wondering if she was conscious, she abruptly was, groaning under her breath. A glance to her phone told her that it was only 9 AM. Rolling over and pulling her blanket up over her head did no good, and after a minute or two of silent lament, Aeris gave up.

“So much for sleeping in,” she grumbled to herself, pushing the covers back and pushing herself to sit up. Oh well—when she was up, she was up. Nothing she could do. At least she still had tomorrow to try again.

Stretching and yawning, Aeris headed into her bathroom. A hot shower later, she was a little more awake and officially ready to start the day.

“What to do…” she mused to herself as she went through her wardrobe, smiling as she selected her favorite summer dress and put it on. She’d had it since high school, and the yellow color was fading a bit. Her mother kept telling her to throw it out so she could buy a new one, but Aeris stubbornly held onto it, sneaking it into her suitcase for college. It didn’t matter that they had the money to buy her a new dress, or a thousand dresses—Aeris loved this one. The only way she’d get rid of it was if it was damaged to the point of no return. It might be childish, but Aeris was beyond caring when it came to this dress.

Her phone chimed as she was trying to reason with her tangled hair, and Aeris went to answer it. It was her alarm, reminding her to take her medicine. Aeris frowned at the reminder, swiping at her screen to get rid of the alarm. There were a couple texts that had been sent during the night—Alex and his band were still having a ball out in California, and it appeared as if he had sent accompanying pictures. Aeris smiled at her brother’s grinning face and went to the next text: Reyna wanted to hang out, now that they were free of ‘the prison that is higher learning’. Aeris snorted and replied to her text, stating that she’d meet her for an afternoon workout, since Reyna wouldn’t even be awake until after noon. Well, that was one thing on her to-do list. What about the rest of the day?

Her rumbling stomach answered that question for her. Suddenly, Aeris realized that this would be the first time she would be having actual breakfast in a month. Once again, thanks, 8 AM Physics class.

Swallowing her sigh, Aeris slipped her sandals on and headed out.

There were a few other college students out and about, greeting friends after a long summer apart, swapping stories as they inspected each other’s’ new clothes, beach tans and haircuts. A couple students from Aeris’ painting class last year were lounging under a nearby tree, indulging in the great weather. They waved at Aeris and invited her to join them, their lazy smiles wide. Aeris was forcibly reminded of a certain bonehead, and she smiled but politely excused herself in favor of the cafeteria, where she could already whiff the delicious smell of pancakes. Mmm, pancakes…

The cafeteria hadn’t changed much: same blue carpet, same zany, multi-colored wallpaper, as if it was desperately trying to convince the people that passed through that it was some sort of pizzeria instead of a cafeteria. Aeris smiled at the cafeteria worker who swiped her ID card and allowed her entry, wishing her a nice day, a sentiment Aeris returned before she picked up a tray and a plate and huddled in with the other early risers in line for their specific breakfast desire.

The one new change Aeris couldn’t help but note was that the nice omelet guy from last year was no longer at the omelet station. In his place was a very tall, enthusiastic-looking skeleton monster, the third skeleton monster she had seen on campus so far, who grinned at everyone that walked by (not that he could help it.) Some people smiled back, and a few approached, only to leave a minute later, shaking their heads. Aeris frowned. What was this about?

“Good morning,” she greeted politely as she approached the skeleton monster. His face lit up at her approach, and he gestured grandly at the ingredients before him…which didn’t look like they were for omelets at all…

“GREETINGS, HUMAN!” The skeleton monster greeted rather loudly, and Aeris jumped a little at the unexpected volume. “Welcome to the GREAT Papyrus’ spaghetti station!” His voice was tenor-pitched and trilling—as opposed to the baritone drawl of a certain other skeleton Aeris was used to. Abruptly, she hoped she wasn’t being rude in assuming he was a he—he sounded masculine to her, but…

“Spaghetti?” Aeris asked to distract herself from her runaway train of thought. The skeleton monster named Papyrus nodded importantly.

“Yes, spaghetti—the most prestigious dish of ALL culinary arts! One day, my spaghetti shall be renowned around the world! …But, for now, I’m just making spaghetti for the students of this fine university!” Papyrus grinned expectantly at Aeris. “Would you like some, human?”

“Call me Aeris,” she requested, once again forcibly reminded of another skeleton monster entirely. “And…sure, why not?”

Papyrus gaped at her.

“R-REALLY?!” He asked, as if Aeris had just announced he was being given the key to the city. “W-WOWIE! I’M SO EXCITED!!” He dropped his voice, muttering behind a gloved hand to Aeris, “Did you know that a lot of the humans here don’t consider spaghetti ‘breakfast food’? Isn’t that silly? Who cares what time of day it is? Spaghetti like mine can be eaten at any time! Even at 3 in the morning!!”

Aeris pressed her hand to her mouth, but she couldn’t help the giggles that slipped through. This skeleton monster—Papyrus, was it?—was just too precious. She handed her tray over, watching Papyrus beam as he spooned out a generous amount of noodles and began stirring in other ingredients into the bubbling sauce pot before him. Aeris watched, wondering if it would be too distracting if she asked him questions while he worked. After a moment, she decided to chance it.

“So, Papyrus…is this your first day working here?” She asked as Papyrus vigorously shook a spice shaker over the sauce. “I’ve never seen you here before…”

“It is indeed my first day!” Papyrus announced, and Aeris grinned as he struck a heroic pose. “My last job, er…” He looked briefly troubled. “Well, that didn’t go too well. LUCKILY, my brother is a student here, and he knew of an opening here in the cafeteria!”

Brother, hm? Was it racist to assume that the other two skeletons Aeris had met might be related to this one? She bit her lip, deliberating. Her curiosity wasn’t worth the possible offense, really—even if she apologized, she’d still feel horrible about it later. Perhaps it was better to just let it be…

“Have you met my brother, human?” Papyrus asked suddenly, looking up from his work to give Aeris a curious look. “You might’ve seen him around—he’s about ye high, answers to Sans, or sometimes Lazybones? Which is what he is, and that’s what I call him when he’s being lazy, but sometimes he does good stuff too, like telling me about this job…it must be my greatness rubbing off on him! Nyeh heh heh!”

Aeris slowly grinned.

“I might’ve heard of him,” she said conversationally, “isn’t he that one guy that goes around telling all sorts of puns and terrible jokes to anyone who’ll listen?”

Papyrus’ jaw dropped at the description; he looked mortified.

“OH MY GOD!!! I’M SO SORRY, HUMAN!!! FORGIVE MY BROTHER AND HIS RIDUCULOUS JOKES!!! MY FATHER AND I HAVE BEEN TRYING TO GET HIM TO STOP FOR _YEARS_ NOW, BUT HE’S TOO DETERMINED!!! IT’S A REAL PROBLEM!!!”

“Calm down, Papyrus,” Aeris cautioned, blushing at the stares they were attracting due to Papyrus’ shouting. “I don’t mind him, really. Just breathe, okay?”

Papyrus did so, though quite erratically, and he dumped maybe a little too much sauce on Aeris’ noodles as a result.

“Well! I hope you can look past the terrible jokes and become friends with my brother!” He said, handing Aeris a rather large plate of spaghetti. “Sans may be a bonehead with a bad sense of humor—” Aeris bit her lip to keep from smiling at what seemed to be an unintentional pun, “—but he’s a good person, once you get past that.”

“If you say so,” she teased. As she picked up a fork from the rack of silverware nearby, Aeris noticed that Papyrus was watching her expectantly, stars beginning to form in his eye sockets. Oh…he was waiting for her to try his spaghetti, wasn’t he…?

Trying to be casual about it, Aeris twirled a mouthful of spaghetti around her fork, carefully ushering the noodles into her mouth. She chewed, savoring the texture and the taste of all the ingredients Papyrus had carefully added. Mmm, not bad.

“Thanks, Papyrus,” she said, grinning at the way his entire being began to vibrate, as if too excited beyond words now. “I may be back for seconds.”

“Really?!”

Aeris eyed the pile of spaghetti on her plate.

“Well…if not, maybe for lunch.” She ate another forkful, nodding to herself. “And dinner,” she added.

“T-three meals in one day?! Wowie!!! You must really like my cooking!!!” Papyrus enthused. “I haven’t even added all my special ingredients yet!!!” He struck a heroic pose as Aeris watched, amused. “Very well: human! When you return, I shall pull out all the stops to make sure your faith in my culinary skills does NOT go unrewarded! NYEH HEH HEH!!!”

“Thanks, Papyrus,” Aeris said again. As he rested his hands atop the sneeze guard in front of his station, Aeris laid a hand over his. “But please: call me Aeris.”

Papyrus gaped down at her hand on his. Abruptly, Aeris realized that she might be being rude, and she withdrew her hand, but Papyrus was already turning red.

Huh. Another skeleton who could blush. Monsters were…interesting.

“Uh, okay, A-Aeris,” he answered in a voice much less exuberant than his previous one; he seemed to be embarrassed. Aeris smiled a little in apology before she took her leave of the spaghetti-making skeleton, choosing a seat next to the window to admire the day, even from inside.

As she sat down, her phone promptly distracted her, reminding her again that she needed to take her medicine. Aeris scowled and sighed, but supposed it couldn’t be helped; it would only lead to trouble later if she dared to skip it…

She got it over with quickly, chasing the hated pill with a glass of water and quickly moving on to her breakfast, determined to put the reminder out of her mind. She would not focus on it, would not let it consume her—if diabetics could live normal lives with barely any interruptions, then so could she, damn it. Her empty hand itched as she ate, so Aeris pulled out her smartphone, deciding to check her e-mail and perhaps have a conversation with her brother, if he wasn’t too busy partying to indulge her for a while.

Because her attention was focused elsewhere, Aeris didn’t notice nor feel the eyes—or lack thereof—focused on her. A certain bonehead in a quiet corner of the cafeteria surveyed her, his skeletal hands wrapped around a large ketchup bottle. He had only come in for a quick bite, wanting to make sure Papyrus’ first day went well. He hadn’t exactly been surprised to see Aeris enter the cafeteria—she seemed like the type to be an early riser—but he had been surprised that she had made a beeline for Papyrus as soon as she spotted him. The resulting conversation was entertaining, even if his brother had slandered him—what was with this ‘good person’ junk, Bro? Ah, no matter; Princess hadn’t heard much she probably didn’t already know about him, so he would let it go.

His gaze flickered over to Papyrus, who was watching Aeris’ back, cradling the hand she had touched. A couple humans and monsters had seen her try Papyrus’ spaghetti and give her kudos, so now they tentatively lined up for Papyrus’ station, a teal-colored monster waving a tentacle in front of Papyrus’ face to grab his attention. Papyrus gave a start and threw himself back into his job vigorously; his nervous laugh could be heard all the way from here.

Grinning, Sans’ gaze switched back to Aeris, where she seemed to be really enjoying the spaghetti, with how fast it was disappearing. She fiddled around on her phone for a bit, but became distracted when the cafeteria was suddenly flooded with light as the sun moved out from behind a cloud. She lifted her gaze to the window, her silver eyes glowing, seeming to absorb the sunlight. She smiled.

Oh boy. Time to go.

Sans stuck the half-empty ketchup bottle in his pocket—no one would miss it—and headed out the back door of the cafeteria. He was suddenly in the mood for some classical music, and so he slipped on his headphones and turned on his mp3 player, selecting his favorite classical album. Sans grinned as piano music began to play, and he closed his eyes, letting the melody take him far, far away…

 

* * *

 

“Why’d I let you drag me here?”

Aeris rolled her eyes.

“Because it’s healthy,” she said patiently, ignoring Reyna’s scowl. “A little exercise won’t kill you, Reyna.”

“So you say,” Reyna harrumphed. Aeris snorted, shaking her head indulgently, but her good humor vanished as Reyna asked, “Did you take your medicine?”

“Yes, _Mom_ ,” She replied, scowling pointedly at Reyna, who raised her hands in a peace-making gesture.

“I’m just making sure, hun. I really don’t feel like spending my Saturday at the hospital, that’s all.” Behind the complaint, Aeris could see Reyna’s concern for her, and it made her sigh.

“I’m fine,” she promised, adjusting her ponytail as she and Reyna approached a couple of empty elliptical machines. “Let’s just focus on working up a sweat, okay?”

Reyna made a face at the elliptical, but climbed onto it with a sigh. Aeris focused on placing her water bottle just right in the holder so Reyna wouldn’t see her smiling.

Reyna preferred to work out to angry-sounding music; when her earbuds were in, she was deaf to everything and everyone, glaring unintentionally at everything as she mouthed the lyrics under her breath, legs working furiously to the beat. Aeris was content to let her be—her face was too scary to interrupt for anything. So when she spotted a familiar figure nearby, fidgeting uncomfortably, she was content to leave Reyna to her own devices for a moment. Hitting the pause button on her machine, Aeris gradually slowed to a stop, her long gait feeling strange after a half hour on the elliptical. Taking a long swig from her water bottle, she approached the fidgeting figure, hoping she didn’t smell too terrible to talk to.

“Hi, Alphys,” she greeted pleasantly…but her voice must’ve been too loud, for Alphys jumped, wide eyes going to Aeris as she hastily adjusted her glasses.

“O-oh! H-hi, A-Aeris,” she greeted, her gaze shifting to and away from Aeris so fast that her vision appeared to blur. “Um, w-what are you d-doing here…?”

“Feeling the burn,” Aeris joked, gesturing to her workout clothes. Alphys blinked, as if the sight of such clothes surprised her.

“Oh. R-right…” she muttered. Alphys, too, was dressed for a workout, Aeris noted, if the sweatbands over her wrists and around her head were any indication. But she hesitated, dithering just outside the workout area…self-conscious, maybe?

“Do you want to join me and my friend?” Aeris offered, though she regretted pointing out Reyna almost immediately; she was in the middle of some furious gesticulating, her expression terrifying as she silently belted the words to whatever song she was jamming to. From the corner of her eye, Aeris saw Alphys gulp.

“Oh, t-that’s okay, Aeris. I-I think I’ll j-just go home…” She lowered her voice, appearing to speak to herself now. “T-this was a mistake after all…”

Aeris tilted her head, frowning. She had gotten to know Alphys a little better since the first study group she attended: she knew Alphys to be very bright when it came to science, but when it came to interacting with others, or any sort of social event, she withdrew so fast that Aeris rather felt that she might’ve been a turtle monster in a past life. And it was a shame—Alphys was such a lovely person that it made Aeris sad to know that many people on campus were probably unaware of that fact. She tried to wrack her brain for anything that could be said to encourage Alphys on without being pushy and assuring her that it was fine if she wanted to go home—

“Hey! Alphys, right?”

Alphys jumped so high that Aeris was afraid for a moment that her head would hit the ceiling.

“U-Undyne!” She sputtered, her face turning completely red. Aeris turned, unsurprised to see the blue fish lady she had spotted once in the library, and then a few times around campus. While Aeris was used to seeing her red hair falling artfully over her left eye, it was up today, and an eye patch was settled across her eye instead. Aeris tried not to stare, but she was incredibly curious on the story there…

Undyne eyed her, frowning.

“This human giving you a hard time?” She demanded to know. Her biceps flexed, and Aeris bit her lip. Oh dear.

“N-no!” Alphys was quick to protest, thankfully. “Th-this is my friend! We, uh, have Physics class together…”

“Physics…?” Abruptly, Undyne was grinning. She reached out, latching Aeris in a sudden one armed hug, her knuckles grinding into Aeris’ hair. “So you’re another nerd, huh? Well, I guess even nerds need friends, too!”

“Ouch,” Aeris mumbled, and Undyne relinquished her strong grip. Hands on her hips, the fish lady grinned at the two of them.

“So! Here for a nerd workout?”

Aeris raised an eyebrow. Undyne sure seemed to enjoy that word, didn’t she? Aeris wasn’t sure how to feel about it…but it didn’t seem like she was trying to be malicious about it…if anything, Alphys blushed more, as if ‘nerd’ was a term of endearment.

“U-uh-um,” she stammered, and Aeris felt pity swell within her. Crushes could be awful, couldn’t they? Making you trip over your own tongue, your heart rate increasing, blood rushing to your face…thank goodness she didn’t have to deal with anything like that right now.

Undyne noticed Alphys’ preoccupation, of course, but as for the origin, she appeared clueless. Aeris watched as she leaned over to get a better look at Alphys’ face, and Alphys turned impossibly redder.

“You can’t get buff if you just stand around out here, y’know,” she chided Alphys, her grin turning…comforting, somehow. “Besides, if you _really_ wanna get shredded, the _real_ workout equipment is downstairs!” Suddenly, she seized Alphys’ wrist. “Come on! I’ll show you!”

“U-uh! Th-that’s—” Alphys began, looking like she was about to panic. She glanced at Aeris for help, but Aeris bit her lip, not knowing what to say…especially since Undyne seemed so determined.

“You coming, punk?” She questioned Aeris; apparently Aeris had a choice in the matter. She chewed on her bottom lip, glancing at Alphys’ helpless look, thinking…

“Aeris!”

She turned, finding that Reyna had paused her elliptical too, and that she was scowling at her.

“You dragged _me_ all the way here, remember? If you ditch me, we’re gonna have problems, girl.”

Aeris gave Alphys an apologetic look. It was out of her hands, now.

“Sorry—I came with my friend over there, and, as you heard, she won’t be happy if I leave her here,” she explained. Alphys’ mouth opened in apparent horror, but Undyne just shrugged.

“Suit yourself. C’mon, Alphys—by the time I’m done with you, you’ll be so ripped that people’ll think twice about even _looking_ at you, let alone talking to you!”

“Um, but, I—I—” Alphys stuttered, and Aeris watched, feeling mildly guilty as Undyne dragged the shy dinosaur who obviously had a crush on her away. She really, really wished there was something she could’ve done…

“What was that about?” Reyna demanded to know when Aeris finally returned. “What did Gills McMuscles want with you?”

“Her name is Undyne,” Aeris corrected, giving Reyna and odd look. Reyna shrugged.

“I like my nickname better. She’s an RA, too, y’know,” she said casually, causing Aeris’ eyes to go wide with surprise. “In the freshman women’s dorm. Was that one of her residents she was dragging away?”

“I don’t think Alphys is a freshman,” Aeris said, though, as she said it, she realized that she had no idea what Alphys was, in the collegiate sense. She also noted that Undyne seemed to know Alphys, so they actually had some connection, instead of Alphys just pining away for the fish lady from afar…maybe they shared a class?

Though the guilt of leaving Alphys to Undyne’s mercy ate at her, Aeris put the matter out of her mind. She still had a half-hour of elliptical use to finish, and who knows—maybe being alone together would be just the spark Alphys needed to get something started with Undyne. Holding the support bar tight, Aeris finished her workout, keeping her fingers crossed.

 

* * *

 

Though Reyna tried to talk her into going to some wild party that night, Aeris politely declined—her hands were itching again, which meant that her night was going to be spent behind a piano rather than at some party where she would stay huddled in a corner anyway, only dancing when Reyna refused to take no for an answer. After a quick bite of dinner (which meant more spaghetti from a very pleased Chef Papyrus), Aeris made her way to the theatre building. She glanced around, feeling shifty as she entered the building; it wasn’t _exactly_ forbidden for her to use the building after hours, but she knew good and well that there were pianos for her to use in the music building without it seeming strange.

‘ _But it’s not the same,_ ’ thought Aeris, and she stubbornly pushed forward, finding her way to the auditorium unimpeded. On the stage, glowing in a singular spotlight, sat the most beautiful Grand piano Aeris had ever laid eyes on: the velvety black color was absolutely seductive, the gold accents delightful. It must be new; the piano Aeris played here last year was much less extravagant, though just as beautiful. And, while Aeris mourned the loss of Annie, the piano she had grown to know and love last year, this new piano had her dying to meet it. She ascended the stairs to the stage quickly, nearly tripping in her haste. The piano waited for her, and she circled it, examining it from all angles. It shone in the soft glow of the auditorium, polished to perfection, looking so new that Aeris was a little intimidated about touching it. On one side, however, she found that the piano was not completely untouched: there was a gold plaque bolted to it, the name ‘Gloria’ engraved in an elegant script. Aeris smiled, making her way back to the bench, feeling a sense of release as she took a seat.

“Hello, Gloria. I’m Aeris. I’m glad to meet you,” she muttered formally to the piano, smoothing back the key cover, pleased to find the keys polished, not a speck of dust on them. “Wow, someone’s been taking care of you with a lot of love, huh? That’s good. Sorry if this is a little sudden, but is it okay if I get to know you a little better?”

She tapped a key or two, testing the sound. The piano’s pitch was perfect, sending the notes echoing throughout the empty auditorium. Aeris grinned.

“I’ll take that as a yes,” she said, and then, after a slow breath, she began to play.

Gloria lived up to her name in ways beyond imagining: she sang loud and strong, clearly proud to be a piano of such beauty and voice, and as Aeris played, she did not attempt to overwhelm the piano with her will, but instead, let the piano sing to her own tune, while she assisted with the harmony. She had soul, Aeris noted, and she felt herself grinning as she played, the notes tumbling out in her elaborate and exuberant dance with the lovely Gloria, feeling herself fall in love, even though this was the first meeting. Whoever had chosen this piano had exquisite taste—Aeris would be jealous every time someone else played Gloria, she already knew it.

Reaching the end of the song, Aeris let the note warble and drift through the empty space, leaving a silence behind that was unbearable, but necessary. Aeris closed her eyes, bowing her head over the piano.

“Thank you, Gloria,” she whispered, smiling softly. “That was lovely.”

“Sure was,” said a voice behind her.

Aeris jumped violently, her hands smashing into the keys on accident. Gloria’s groan of protest hurt her, and she swiftly slid the key cover down before she whirled around.

Sans was standing there, his shit-eating grin in place, looking way too gleeful for someone who should not be there at all. Aeris leaned against Gloria, needing the support, a hand over her heart as if her own touch could calm its rapid racing under her ribcage.

“You scared the _hell_ out of me,” she complained, her words lacking the necessary vehemence due to the frightened adrenaline still coursing through her. “What’re you doing here?”

Sans’ grin widened.

“Was thinkin’ about headin’ home when I spotted you across campus.” He eyed Aeris’ blushing face. “Ya looked real shifty-like, Princess. So I followed to make sure you weren’t plannin’ any mischief…and then I walked in to find ya in an illicit affair.”

The lights in Sans’ eye sockets began to shine, and a sense of dread befell Aeris.

“I’m assumin’ it’s a _no strings attached_ type deal, yeah?” He teased, and Aeris groaned, pressing her hands to her cheeks to alleviate her embarrassment, and to discourage any smiles her mouth might be thinking about doing.

“Have you been in here this whole time?” She questioned him.

Sans only grinned.

“Why? You worried I mighta seen somethin’ I shouldn’t have?” He asked innocently, and Aeris groaned again, mortified. He had seen her talking to the piano, no doubt about it. Great—rumors about her being insane would run rampant through campus within a week.

Sighing, Aeris gave in.

“Fine. You’ve discovered what I’m nerdy about. Congratulations,” she said dryly. Sans snickered, and Aeris felt her lower lip jut out in protest.

“Sure did,” he answered, his tone indecently gloating. “And to think of the times you teased me about science when you get all _keyed up_ about stuff like this.”

“Punny bonehead,” Aeris shot at him, and Sans’ grin widened.

“That’s me.” He moved forward, taking a seat next to Aeris on the bench, his hands stuffed in his pockets. “So. Heard ya met my bro today.”

“Bro…oh! Papyrus! Yes, I did,” said Aeris, smiling at the thought of the excitable skeleton. “He’s very…enthusiastic.”

“That’s Papyrus,” Sans agreed, his grin softening just a bit. “He gets worked up about stuff…but he’s a good person.”

“He said the same thing about you,” Aeris informed him, “the ‘good person’ part, I mean.”

“Any rumors about me bein’ good have been greatly exaggerated, I assure you,” Sans replied, and Aeris rolled her eyes, though she couldn’t fight the smile that curved her lips. “Catch Pap on a bad day, when he’s annoyed with me for leavin’ my socks around. _Then_ you’ll hear what I’m really like.”

“You’d prefer he slander you?”

“It’s the ‘good’ talk that’s the slander, Princess.”

“I’d be sorry to hear that this opinion of yourself is actually true,” Aeris told him. Sans looked away from her, staring ahead of him, default grin in place.

“Well, who knows us better than ourselves at the end of the day?” He asked, the words joking…but his tone carried no trace of humor.

Aeris frowned.

“We’re our own worst judges,” she countered, leaning forward to capture Sans’ gaze again. “The only way we can truly know ourselves is by the friends we’ve made—they each reflect a piece of us right back at us.”

Sans consented to return his gaze to Aeris, giving her a searching look.

“…You in a philosophy class, Princess?” He questioned, his grin widening by a margin. Aeris smiled at that.

“No. That’s a lyric from one of my brother’s songs. It’s my favorite.”

“Brother, huh?” Sans slouched against Gloria, his elbows resting on the key cover, looking too much at ease to be allowed. Aeris thought about telling him to show the piano some respect…but then had to remind herself that no one was as neurotic about pianos as she was. “Musical family?”

Aeris snorted.

“Hardly. I doubt my parents have a creative bone in their body.” She winced at the bone analogy, especially when Sans’ grin widened. Damn it. “It’s just my brother and me,” she finished hurriedly.

“What’s he play?”

“Bass guitar.”

“Oh. Rock star, huh?”

“He’s working on it,” Aeris answered with a grin. Sans shared her grin.

“Have I heard of him?”

“Maybe not. He’s not _big_ big just yet…he only just started his career for real last year…”

Aeris trailed off, her brow puckering. That was a bad day in their house—the fight between Alex and her parents was so bad that Aeris almost had an attack from the stress. It ended when their father screamed that Alex was being disinherited for throwing his life away on useless fantasies, and with Alex shouting back that he didn’t need them or this house, and that he was moving out because he couldn’t stand being suffocated under their father’s tyranny for one more second…

Three weeks went by with no contact from Alex. It was only through Aeris’ tears and Dr. Crown’s insisting that Mr. Crown finally swallowed his pride and agreed to meet Alex. According to Alex, as he met with Aeris for apology ice cream later, they had made up, and he was no longer out of the will, but he still refused to move back home—especially not when their band finally landed an agent, and a tour was being put together. After packing the essentials—his guitar, some clothes, toiletries that Aeris graciously packed for him—Alex left with a backward wave and an excited grin to chase his dreams…which left Mr. Crown to slide Aeris under the microscope next…

“Aeris?”

Aeris blinked. A bony hand was waving in front of her face, and she grimaced in apology at Sans, who was watching her with a slight frown.

“Sorry. What were we talking about?”

“Lost ya for a second there,” Sans remarked, ignoring her question. A hand reached up, adjusting the drawstring to his hoodie. “You okay?”

“I’m fine,” Aeris replied automatically with a sigh; she’d be quite happy if she never had to hear that question again. “Just thinking…”

“About?” Sans prompted. Busybody. Or busy _no_ body, rather…

Aeris frowned to herself. Maybe she was spending too much time with this punny bonehead.

Sans was still watching her, tugging on his drawstring. The movement seemed to be automatic, as if he wasn’t even aware that he was doing it; his gaze was too focused on her face. Aeris blushed, glancing away. After a moment, she decided to indulge him.

“Do you think our parents all just decided one day to forget what it’s like to have dreams?” She asked, staring out into space, watching dust motes float in the spotlight’s rays.

“I dunno,” Sans replied; from the corner of her eye, Aeris could see his short legs swinging on the bench, and she fought to muffle a snort. “For some of ‘em, having kids is a dream, isn’t it?”

“I doubt it was for my parents,” Aeris reflected with a frown. “They’re both so busy with their respective careers…kids seem like they would get in the way of that. I doubt Alex and I were actually planned. And if we were, it seems like it was only for them to have an extension of themselves to control. Don’t parents realize that when they create life, they create a whole new person that can think and live for themselves? Where did this rationale come from that because children owe their lives to their parents, they consequently have to do their bidding? When did it become okay for parents to shove their unachieved dreams and aspirations onto their children, like it’s to be expected? How is that fair?”

Aeris blew out a sigh, scratching the side of her head. Abruptly, she realized this was probably the longest speech she had made in Sans’ presence…and most of it was spent complaining about her parents. A flush heated her cheeks, and she pressed her hands to her face once again.

“Sorry,” she mumbled, staring at the floor now. “I didn’t mean to get so, uh…”

“Passionate?”

There was something strange in Sans’ tone as he said that word. Aeris looked over at him, finding his gaze on her as intense as ever. She could feel herself blush again, and cursed herself for the reflex reaction.

“I probably sound like every other teenager whining about their parents, huh?” She admitted with a strained smile.

Sans said nothing. He just stared. After a moment, Aeris looked away, too embarrassed to keep his gaze. The seconds ticked by.

Finally, Sans spoke.

“Why do you want to stay in Physics?”

That question was familiar. Aeris smiled a bit.

“The company,” she couldn’t help but tease, giving him a wink. Blue flooded Sans’ skull, but he otherwise ignored her tongue-in-cheek response.

“You don’t like it,” he pressed, causing Aeris to sigh. “You always look like you’re exhausted in class, and like you’d rather be anywhere else during study group. You clearly want to drop it. So why don’t you?” He leaned forward a little, invading Aeris’ space, his attentiveness making it clear that this information was of the utmost importance. “Why do you keep coming back?”

Aeris tilted her head, staring at him. She wondered if her answer would upset him, he who mysteriously loved the subject so much that he could lose himself in it so deep that he’d forget the world around him. She bit her lip, glancing away from him, deliberating.

“Tell me,” he insisted after a quiet moment.

Despite the situation, this made Aeris snort.

“Does it matter?” She quoted herself, reminded irresistibly of the first time this issue came up in conversation. She glanced back at him, expecting to see Sans flushing, averting his gaze and mumbling an excuse—

He was suddenly very _there_ beside her, turned completely towards her, leaning forward. The tiny pinpricks of light in his eye sockets swelled to three times their size, focused completely on her. His expression was determined.

“Yes,” he said, and left it at that.

Aeris flushed under his gaze. Jeez…well, if he wanted to know so badly…

“Spite,” she replied, feeling ashamed even as she said it. Sans blinked; he clearly had not been expecting such an answer. But he waited, silent, clearly wanting more.

Aeris obliged him, though not without a bemused look on why this should matter to him. Perhaps he was acting as gatekeeper for this subject he loved so much…

“My father basically gave me an ultimatum: I would either take the courses _he_ wanted me to take this year, or I could pay my tuition on my own. Basically, I had no choice, if I wanted to stay here.” She scowled at the memory before quickly moving on. “And then there was Professor Gaster—uh…”

Abruptly, Sans was grinning again.

“Go ahead,” he invited. Aeris pursed her lips, but nevertheless continued.

“Well, his vote of non-confidence pretty much stoked the vindictive drive I’ve got going on right now. My brother gave me this idea, but I like it, so I’m gonna follow through with it: I’ll graduate with my bachelor’s degree in science, at the top of my class, if I can manage it.”

She gave Sans a smile.

“And then I’m gonna throw away all my parents’ high hopes and expectations and open up a flower shop,” she concluded.

Sans stared at her. Aeris inspected his expression, wondering if he was indeed angry after all for her frivolous treatment of his favorite subject, but all she could get from him was shock.

“…Pfft!”

Sans snorted, then chuckled, and then threw his head back and _laughed._ Aeris stared, utterly surprised as he turned from her, rocking back and forward, holding his sides, as if his gut would bust open from the hilarity…not that he had a gut to burst in the first place. His amusement echoed through the auditorium, creating the illusion that they were in a room full of laughing people, watching a comedy onstage. Aeris felt herself grin, albeit sheepishly, and she waited patiently for Sans to calm down…which took a while.

Finally, his laughter began to die down, and she watched as he brushed tears of mirth from his eye sockets.

“Hehehehe! Heheheh…oh, man…you’re _brutal_ , Princess,” he commented, the negative words sounding more like a compliment than anything else. “I never woulda guessed.”

Aeris blushed, her contrary grin growing.

“You already know that I’m stubborn,” she pointed out. “Let’s just call this another level of that.”

“That’d certainly be a slap in the face to your parents,” Sans agreed. As Aeris watched, however, his grin began to fade. “……You’re putting yourself through an awful lot of work, though. This could be just my laziness talking, but…is it really worth it?”

Aeris paused, the question taking her by surprise. Huh… _was_ it worth it…?

“This is only the beginning, y’know,” Sans told her, his voice quiet as he inspected her. “It’s gonna get harder, and if you’re strugglin’ now…you’re gonna have a bad time, Princess.”

“You’ve said that already.”

“Doesn’t make it any less true.”

Aeris sighed.

“It _is_ pretty petty, isn’t it?”

“S’not what I’m saying,” Sans corrected, fixing her with yet another searching stare. “While I like the way your mind works, I really do…maybe it’s better not to kill yourself to prove everyone else wrong, yeah?”

Aeris glanced over at him, smiling a little.

“Are you worried about me?” She asked.

Sans blushed again, pulling his gaze from her and fiddling with his drawstring again, one side steadily getting more and more uneven than the other side.

“Well…it’s just, y’know…ya got a real talent here,” he pointed out, patting the key cover behind him. “I just think, maybe, you should spend more time behind a piano, rather than locked in a library with me for two hours a week.”

Oh no. He was so cute.

Aeris pressed her fingertips to her lips, trying—and failing—to prevent a smile. After a moment, she reached over, moving Sans’ twitchy hand to the side so she could fix his hood and drawstring. Sans sat perfectly still as she did so, expression blank.

“Well, thank you,” she told him quietly after a moment, straightening up and smiling. “It’s nice to have such a good friend.”

Sans’ gaze shot to her face, like Aeris had surprised him. After a moment, a small, shy smile spread across his face.

_So cute._

“Friend, huh?” He quoted, framing the word carefully, as if it was his first time speaking it. Aeris grinned at him.

“Sure, why not?” She leaned over, bumping her shoulder with his. “I mean, if you’re gonna be following me around all over the place, I wanna be able to tell campus security that we’re friends before they arrest you for stalking behavior.”

Sans blushed deeply at that, and Aeris giggled to herself.

“Ah…sorry,” he apologized sheepishly. Aeris gave an easy shrug.

“It’s fine. I never mind seeing you, Sans.” Her smile became a grimace. “Just, uh, make sure you’re not sneaking up on me all the time. I’m too young to die of a heart attack, you know.”

“Deal,” Sans agreed, extending a hand to shake on it. Smiling, Aeris took his hand—but then a loud farting noise sounded throughout the auditorium. Aeris’ eyes widened, and Sans’ grin turned shit-eating.

“Jeez, Princess,” he chuckled, and Aeris’ narrowed eyes found the whoopee cushion nestled in his hand before he whipped it out of sight, “you should really watch what ya eat. I know my bro likes to _toot his own horn_ about his cooking, but—”

“I take it back,” Aeris insisted, jumping to her feet and glaring down at Sans. “Friendship offer rescinded.”

“Aw, c’mon,” he called after her lazily as she stormed away, her face on fire, “I thought ya liked me, Princess? Weren’t you just about to say that I had a lotta _fart_? I mean, heart?”

“Goodnight, Sans!” Aeris called behind her shoulder, throwing the auditorium open before her and dramatically exiting, stage right…

Damn it! The stupid jokes kept coming into her head without her meaning them to! And worst of all, they were in Sans’ voice!

Aeris gave an irritable huff, stomping through the balmy night air. That’s it—friends or not, she was _not_ hanging out with Sans outside of school-related activities anymore. Her sanity was not worth his goofy smile and shitty puns, not at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...
> 
> WHY ARE THEY STILL SO FUCKING CUTE?
> 
> THIS IS NOT OKAY.
> 
> ~Reyna


End file.
